


Harry Potter and the Student From Amestris

by CheshiresArrow (TheWriterEs)



Series: Edward Elric the Wizard [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: F/M, First Book, Gen, Professor Ed, sixth book, suspicious golden trio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-05-05 15:22:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 30,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5380130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWriterEs/pseuds/CheshiresArrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward Elric did not believe in magic. That, however, did not stop Hogwarts from sending him an acceptance letter. What will happen his first year there?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"What in the..." Eleven year old Ed was awoken from his sleep by a sharp tapping noise on the window of the Rockbelle's house, where he and Al had spent yet another night. He rolled over in his makeshift bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning widely, before stepping over his sleeping brother to look out the window.

Much to his surprise, there was a tawny brown owl perched on the window sill, rapping the window with its beak, and staring at the eldest Elric brother expectantly. Ed blinked. The owl, looking fairly annoyed, tapped on the window once more. The young blonde boy looked towards his younger brother.

"Al," he hissed, nudging him in the ribs with his foot, "Al, do you know why there's an owl at the window?"

Al, who had given up on sleep as his brother continued to dig his foot into the smaller boys side, sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Owls don't come out during the day," he mumbled, voice still thick with sleep. Ed rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah, I know that. So why the heck is it at the window?" Alphonse shrugged, and stood next to his brother.

"Oh," he pointed out, "it has a letter with it." He frowned. "I didn't know there were messenger owls."

Ed eyed the poor creature with an indeterminable look on his eye.

"I'm going to take that letter," he declared, unlatching the Rockbelle's window and trying to snatch the owl, who screeched before flapping into the room and perching on a lamp. Ed could have sworn it was glaring at him, with eyes as golden as his own. Edward glared back. Reproachfully, it held out its left leg, where, as Al had seen, there was an envelope attached with twine.

Ed looked at the letter and then back to the owl.

"This is nuts. Owls, delivering letters. Al," he turned to his brother, who had pulled a blanket over his already sleep-mussed hair, "do you think that Granny or Winry is trying to screw with us?" Al shrugged, still under the blanket.

Ed slowly took the letter, never breaking eye contact with the feathery animal.

"Or," he continued, oblivious to Alphonse's annoyed muter of 'just take it, brother!', "it could be from," he gave a shudder, " _Teacher_." Alphonse squeaked from under the blanket before throwing it off.

"Do you think she knows what we're trying to do?" He asked the elder brother, wide-eyed.

"I don't know," Ed replyed, voice filled with fear, "but I do know that if she does..."

"She's going to kill us!" Al bemoaned, clutching his brothers arm.

"It was nice knowing ya, Al!" Edward cried dramatically.

"You two are weird," a girl's voice came from the doorway, interrupting the brothers dramatic farewell, "even more than you usually are."

The two blond heads whipped around to face Winry Rockbelle standing in the doorway, who had her hands on her hips.

"Granny wanted me to tell you that breakfast is ready, and you - why is there an owl inside?" The last part of the sentence was said tiredly, as if she couldn't be bothered to be surprised at this point. The boys slowly followed her gaze to the tawny owl, who was now cleaning it's feathers.

"It gave me this," Ed said, holding up the letter, "I thought you might know something about it?"

Winry raised an eyebrow.

"And why would I know anything about it? I didn't send it." She grabbed the letter from his hand and inspected it. "Mister E. Elric, the guest bedroom, Rockbelle automail mechanics." Warily, she looked up. "How do they know where you're staying?"

Ed shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. Creepy though, right?" He shrugged to himself, and began to open the letter. Slowly, he pulled out a piece of parchment - seriously? How old fashioned - and scanned it. Winry and Alphonse read over his shoulder.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr Elric, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

He blinked. Then: "What in the hell?"

He faced his brother and Winry, who had matching looks of confusion on their faces.

"Magic isn't real, Brother, is it?" Al questioned him.

Ed snorted.

"Of course not! But, this defiantly proves that someone is pulling a prank on us. Now we just need to prove who."

"How do you know it's a prank?" Winry asked him, raising her eyebrow in curiosity.

Ed and Al exchanged a look, before Ed broke into laughter. Al sighed at his older brothers lack of tact.

"Are you kidding me?" Ed snickered, "Magic isn't real, stupid!"

She went red in the face.

"Well, even if it isn't, you don't have to be so mean!" She stormed towards the door before spinning on her heel to face them. "And I'm telling Granny not to let you have any breakfast, Edward!"

The two brothers raced after her, shouting at the top of their lungs, "Winry, wait up!"

* * *

 

Granny Pinako eyed the letter that Ed handed her with a suspicious glint in her eyes.

"And it was delivered by owl, you say?"

Ed nodded, his mouth to full of breakfast to speak.

Pinako 'hmph'd'.

"Well, I figured this would show up sooner or later. Your mother told me about it before she got sick."

Ed and Al blinked before sharing a completely befuddled look. Their mom had known about this?

"Our mom... knew...?" Al ventured curiously.

Pinako nodded, looking at them over her round glasses.

"Of course she did. She was a witch."

Did nothing in this world make sense anymore?

"That's impossible!" Ed and Al exclaimed together.

"Mom would have told us something," Al continued to protest.

Granny snorted, and turned her attention to bringing bowls to the table for breakfast.

"Would she have?"

The brothers hesitated. Would she? Of course, now they would never know. They didn't even know what to think anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

Pinako had sent a letter back with the owl, explaining that, yes, Edward would be attending, and that he would need someone to take him to Diagon Ally. Someone was supposed to arrive at eight the next morning to explain the fundamentals and bring him and Alphonse to Diagon Ally to shop for his school supplies. It was five minutes to eight, and no one had even come near the Rockbelle's house.

Ed sighed exaggeratedly to himself, then louder to signify his boredom when no one looked his way.

"They'll come, Ed." Granny reassured him, not looking up from an automail foot she was examining.

The blond boy crossed his arms over his chest and sat down on the floor. "It's almost eight, and no one is here. It was a prank, Granny, no ones coming." Just as the words left his mouth, there was a loud knocking on the door. Granny looked at Edward as she stood to answer it.

"You were saying?"

She opened the door. "You must be Minerva. Thank you for taking the time to help Edward."

"We should have known he would have a hard time learning of the existence of magic, it was our mistake not to have the letter delivered by person rather than an owl." Said the person in the doorway, a tall, stern looking woman with gray hair and dressed in robes as green as the fields of Risembool.

Al and Winry peeked at the guest from the kitchen, and locked eyes with Edward. He made a face at them, to which Al giggled quietly and Winry scowled back at him, sticking her tongue out.

"Mr. Elric?" Ed's gaze shot to the older woman.

"Yes ma'am?" Edward Elric knew a thing or two about scary women, having lived with Izumi Curtis for a while. The older, self proclaimed 'witch' gave the smallest of smiles in response.

"Are you ready to travel to Diagon Ally?" Ed had absolutely no idea what 'Diagon Ally' was, but he nodded all the same. The witch nodded curtly. "Come along, Mr. Elric." Ed and Al followed her out the door, while Winry waved as they left.

"Excuse me, Miss, um…" Al started in a small voice.

"I am Professor McGonagal, Mr. Elric. What is your question?" The professor interrupted him.

"Oh. Um, how are we getting there?"

Ed was wondering the exact same thing.

"Apparition. Take hold of my arms, tightly please." The boys did so, and the next thing Ed knew, there was a rushing sensation, and it felt as if his entire body was being squeezed through the smallest crack in the world. With a great pop, they appeared in a crowded pup. Ed looked around, intrigued. He had never been in a pub before.

Professor McGonagal walked briskly to the bartended, who smiled at her.

"Hello, Minerva. Are these new Hogwarts students?" He asked the professor.

"Tom, this is Mr. Edward Elric, and his younger brother Alphonse, who is accompanying him to Diagon Ally today." Tom nodded.

"Right you are. Hagrid just came by with Harry Potter, you know."

"Yes, Tom, I did know that." McGonagal said dryly, as if she had no time for small talk. "I'll be off now." They walked towards a door, which Edward suspected led to another street. He was wrong. Instead, it looked like any back ally, complete with dust bins. That is, until McGonagal took out her wand and tapped a pattern on the bricks, which caused them to open.

Edward and Alphonse shared a look. So far, this magic seemed like nothing more than alchemy, even that teleportation could, hypothetically, be done with alchemy. They were going to remain skeptical of this whole thing until they saw something done with magic that could in no possible way be accomplished with alchemy.

They followed the Professor out into a bustling throng of people, more than the two boys had ever seen in their life. And how strange these people dressed. Nearly everyone was clothed in robes similar to McGonagal's, and Ed hoped he wouldn't have to wear the ridiculous things.

"Follow me, please." She said briskly, walking through the crowd. The two brothers had to hurry to catch up so as not to lose sight of her. She led them first to a bank, which held a very small fortune of this so called 'wizard' money that had apparently come from their mother's parents, grandparents that Ed and Al had never even known. Upon seeing the creatures - they were called Goblins, but could just as well be some sort of chimeras - Ed narrowed his eyes in distrust of them. They looked like they were perfectly capable of doing really, really bad things to whomever crossed them. Al shuddered at the so-called 'Goblins' as they passed.

One of the Goblins - after speaking with the professor and laying a scrutinizing gaze on the two golden eyed boys - led them to a back room, cave-like and cold, where they climbed into what looked like a cart used in cole mines. As soon as they were all in, it took of like a shot. Ed, once he opened his eyes, saw that Al's face was screwed up tightly, and was faintly green, while McGonagal's was impassive, as if she had done this millions of times before (she probably had).

Their family vault contained more than enough to take what he would need for his school supplies, as well as a little extra for anything else he might need. He pocketed the coins (knuts, sickles, and galleons,) and they exited the way that they had come.

They purchased everything Ed would need for school, including books, potions ingredients, and robes (Ed had been livid when the stupid seamstress had called him 'slightly smaller than average, m'dear,' and they had left that place in a hurry). Now, all that was left was his wand. They walked towards the old building, the sign proudly proclaiming it as _Olivander's_ , and Ed felt a knot in his stomach. This was where he would see real magic, if, in fact, it was magic. He pushed open the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Al walked close behind him as the brothers entered the wand store. McGonagall promptly sat on a small stool, meant for waiting friends and family, it would seem. After a moment's hesitation, Ed called out,

"Hello?" There was a rustling noise coming from the back, as if someone was untangling themselves from the merchandise. An old man, who's wild white hair made him look as if he'd recently been electrocuted, emerged. His eyes were as weird to Edward as his own were to most other people. They were very nearly colorless, but age and wisdom sparked behind them.

"Ah, another young Hogwarts student, I presume?" the older man asked him, looking him up and down, analyzing him with nothing more than a slightly creepy stare. Ed nodded slowly in response.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Edward Elric, and I-"

"Elric? Trisha Elric's son, then?" Ed was shocked.

"You… knew my mom?" he asked.

"Knew her? I sold her wand to her. I remember it so clearly. Yew, ten inches, with a core of unicorn tail hair. A good wand for a good woman. How is she?"

"She's dead."

An awkward pause hung in the air, so thick that Ed could almost taste it on his tongue. The man appeared to be at a loss for words. Then,

"I'm sorry. She was amazing, simply amazing. Got her wand on her second try. Well," he said, "let's not forget why we are here, shall we? Hold out your wand arm."

Ed figured that by 'wand arm', he meant his dominant hand. Obediently, he held out his right arm, and the old man - whom he now assumed was Olivander - got out a measuring tape, that began to take measurements all on its own.

Okay... So maybe magic was real. He could feel Alphonse's eyes watching him.

"Try this." A long stick - wand - was thrust into his hand, and he gave it a hesitant wave. Several boxes fell off of shelves, and the end of Olivander's robes caught fire.

"No, not quite," Olivander muttered to himself, putting out his robes. "Ah, perhaps this one?"

It went on for a while. Ed found himself counting the number of times he was given a wand, and how many times it was subsequently taken away. 5, 6, 7, 22, 23, 30…

He didn't like knowing that he was not able to get the wand right. He was always good at everything! He gritted his teeth in concentration. He would get this right.

After what felt like an eternity of wand testing, Edward was handed a long wand.

"Willow, demiguise hair core, twelve and a half inches. Wonderful for transfiguration." Olivander announced. As Ed took the wand from him, his entire arm tingled with warmth. A soft glow seemed to envelop his arm and hand.

"Ah, so that's the one," the old man said softly. "You will do great things with that wand, Mister Elric." Ed expanded the wand that he held in his hands. It was just a simple carved piece of wood, nothing spectacular, and yet it held this much power.

The wand was paid for, and the three traveled back to the Pinako's house, Ed lost in thought nearly the entire time. He barely listened when McGonagall told Granny the instructions to get to a train station on September first.

"The closest means of transportation to get to the school is in Muggle London," she explained, "but I can arrange a portkey to get you there."

"Thank you," Granny said. "I will be sure to have Edward ready by then."

They said their goodbyes, and the brothers were left with their neighbors and Den. Winry was excitedly asking the two of them numerous questions.

"How was it? Was it weird? We're there other creatures besides witches and wizards? Did you get a wand? Can I see your wand?"

"Jeeze, Winry," Ed said after enduring this for quite some time, "I don't know what to say! Yes, it was kinda weird, we saw some Goblins, and yes I got a wand." He procured the polished wood with a bit of an over dramatic flourish (as per Ed's usual style), and Winry's eyes grew wide.

"That is so cool!" She gushed. "I wonder how it works..," Ed pocketed it.

"It's like a conductor, or something, I wasn't really paying too much attention." He shrugged. "Let's go do something outside, I'm bored!"

The three blonde children raced outside, Den chasing after them barking loudly. Granny watched them go, smoking her pipe thoughtfully.

"You'd be proud, Trisha," She said to the empty room, gazing at the Elric's house on the hill.

* * *

The portkey was different from apparating. It felt like someone had yanked Ed, by the belly button, and he wasn't sure if he'd rather put up with that or the crushing pressure of apparating. He, Granny, and Al (Winry had to stay home to watch over the house) appeared at King's Cross Station in London about ten minutes before the train was scheduled to leave.

"Do you remember how to get to the platform, Edward?" Granny asked him, her arms crossed over her chest, staring up at the blonde boy. He grinned sheepishly, and Al sighed at his older brother.

"Hehe, I might've not been listening… at all." Ed admitted.

"You go through the barrier in between those two platforms there," Granny said, gesturing towards the brick wall. "And yes, I asked the professor. That is the way to get through."

Ed eyed it warily, but the three of them walked towards it none the less. As they did, he saw a pump, red haired woman showing a dark haired boy how to get through the barrier. Ed couldn't believe his eyes as all but one of the red headed children surrounding the woman ran through the bricks, leaving only a small girl behind with the mother. The young alchemist turned to face the elderly woman who had been so good to him and his brother.

"Thanks, Granny," he said, "I'll write to you guys sometime, okay?" Granny nodded, and Ed was pulled into a hug by his little brother.

"Brother! It's going to be so weird without you in Risembool." Alphonse said. "Try not to terrorize the teachers to much, okay." Ed squeezed his brother.

"Okay, Al, I'll try." He said with a smile.

"And drink your milk. You don't want to be a shrimp forever, do you?" Pinako smirked. Ed grit his teeth.

"You should talk, you old hag!" He growled. After a long moment of silence, he bid them a final farewell and stepped through the wall. It was truly a strange sensation.

Edward Elric boarded the train that would take him to his future.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

The train was fairly cozy, Edward mused to himself as he looked for a place to sit. From what he could see, the seats were plush and comfortable, and would be a wonderful place to take an extended nap.

He found no empty compartments, so he decided on one only containing a plump boy and a frizzy-haired girl, who seemed to be initiating the conversations between the two. A large toad rested on the lap of the boy. Ed knocked on the glass of the compartment door before sliding it open.

"Alright if I sit with you guys?" He asked, not really caring about an answer because he was sitting down anyway. The two other children nodded, though the girl gave him a curious look.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she stated, and Edward nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Er, Neville Longbottom," the boy muttered quietly. His toad had hopped down from his lap and was sitting on the compartment floor.

"Edward Elric. I'm guessing that you two are first years as well, then?" The two children nodded again.

Ed leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as he prepared for his nap, but Hermione didn't seem to be one for silences, as she immediately began conversing with the two boys. He felt a bit annoyed at that, but he was really too tired to even care at this point.

After an hour or so after the train had left the platform, Ed heard an "oh, no," from Neville, and he opened his eyes to see what disaster had befallen them. Neville's face was pale, and he looked worried.

"Trevor's gone missing," he explained, seeing the other boy's raised eyebrow. "My toad." He added as clarification. _Really, a toad?_  Ed thought to himself, but did not voice this.

"Come with me," Hermione said in a brisk tone, "I'll help you look for him. We can ask students in the other compartments. Edward, will you come with us?" She looked at Ed expectantly, and he shook his head.

"I'm going to finish my nap. Let me know if you find the toad." Hermione hesitated for a fraction of a second before deciding to leave the blonde alchemist where he was.

Ed leaned back into the seat, relishing the silence that had settled in the compartment, but someone opening the door cut his relaxation short. He opened his eyes and glared at the newcomer, a pale blonde boy who looked remarkably like a rodent. Two oafish boys stood just behind him.

"I've heard that Harry Potter is on the train," the boy said in a tone that indicated he thought he was better than anyone else on the scarlet train, "have you seen him, by chance?"

" _No_ ," Ed said to him, barely restraining himself from punching the kid in the face, "now go away and let me get back to my nap, asshole."

The blonde boy sneered, but left without a fight. He probably didn't think that Edward was worth his time.

Neville and Hermione reappeared several long, blissful minutes later, and Ed ignored them for the duration of the ride, until Hermione pointed out that he still wore his shorts and t-shirt, and should probably change into the school robes. He did so, but grudgingly.

Hogwarts was, Ed would admit, quite a sight to see. An enormous man escorted the group of first years that had arrived to a fleet of boats that would take them to the castle. Ed's stomach tied itself in knots the entire way there, and he thought he might be sick. They entered the castle, and Edward saw the familiar form of Minerva McGonagall standing in front of a large doorway.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses." Ed didn't remember hearing anything about houses, and he wondered how exactly they would be sorted. "The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room." That didn't sound too bad, he mused to himself.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced…" Ed tuned out after a while. This speech was too long, in his opinion, and he just wanted to eat some food. His stomach gave an audible growl, and a girl shot him an annoyed look.

"I will return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left. However, it didn't take all that long for her to return. She led them into the doors, now open, and Ed saw four tables – he assumed they were for the different houses – and a raised platform for the teachers to sit. In front of that was a stool with a shabby looking black hat on it. It didn't seem too special, that is, until it began to sing.

Ed's mouth dropped open in shock, and he wasn't the only one. Two boys, the ones he had seen at the station, had wide eyes, and even that Hermione girl looked impressed.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," McGonagall said after the song was finished. Ed watched her call from a list of people in alphabetical order.

"Elric, Edward!" She called out, and with a jolt, he realized she had said his own name. As though in a dream, he walked towards the stool and sat down, and the hat was placed on his head, immediately engulfing his sight.

_"What an interesting mind you have, boy."_ Edward heard the voice not with his ears, but coming from inside his head. This was by far one of the strangest things that he had ever done, and he had lived with Izumi Curtis for half a year. He stayed silent, curious as to what the hat would say to him.

_"Determined to bring your mother back, hmm? A Slytherin trait, no doubt, but… you would thrive in any of the houses… Your loyalty to your friend and your brother would serve you well in Hufflepuff, and you are very intelligent, though you act rashly. No, Ravenclaw is not for you, nor is Slytherin. I suppose it shall be…_

"GRYFFINDOR!" The cry the hat gave was so loud that Ed jumped a little on the stool, before standing up and handing the hat to McGonagall, who gave him the tiniest of smiles as he walked to the red and gold table that belonged to the Gryffindor house. He sat and watched as the rest of the first years were sorted – Hermione and Neville were both in Gryffindor, as were the two boys from the train station – and listened as the Headmaster welcomed them all with an odd assortment of words.

"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

One of the two boys, with dark hair and glasses, leaned in towards a red haired boy with a badge on his robes. Ed listened to them discussing the sanity – or possible lack of – of the Headmaster. Ed himself thought that the old man probably was a bit mad, but he didn't seem like he was too bad.

"Dad's a muggle, mum's a witch. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out," a boy sitting near him was saying.

"What about you, Edward?" Hermione had turned to him expectantly.

"What about me?" He replied, a bit confused. Hermione gave him an exasperated expression.

"Your parents. Mine are both muggles, and Seamus's are a muggle and a witch. What about your parents?"

"Oh," said Ed, "Uh, I don't know about my dad, by I don't think he was a wizard. Apparently my mom was a witch." He shrugged, and turned back to his food, but the frizzy haired girl was not done with him yet.

"Was?" Ed swallowed his food and looked up. The dark haired boy and his red headed friend, along with most of the people within hearing range, were staring at him.

"My father left us when I was three," he said slowly, eyes on his plate, "and my mother died six years ago." There was silence, and then the girl was trying to awkwardly apologize to him, which he waved off. He didn't need anyone's pity.

Dumbledore gave an actual speech after the food was gone, and Ed felt his eyelid's grow heavy. He stood with the other students, and followed the boy with the badge – a prefect – to the common room that would serve as his living quarters.

He didn't even bother changing into his pajamas when he reached the boy's dormitory, and just collapsed on the bed that had his trunk standing by the foot of it.

This was going to be a strange year.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Ed nearly fell asleep in his oatmeal. Again.

He'd been at Hogwarts for nearly a month, now, and while it was infinitely more interesting than the little school in Risembool had been, it was still school. Sure, he was learning things most eleven year olds could only dream of, but he found that even magic schools could be boring and tedious at times.

One such example was the History of Magic class that he and the other students were all required to take. At first, Edward thought that it might be fun, given that their teacher was an actual ghost (and boy, was Ed surprised to learn that ghosts were everywhere in the castle), but he was so boring that the blonde alchemist soon found himself yearning to be back with Izumi Curtis, if only to add a little excitement into his life.

Hermione, as it turned out, was as much of a bookworm as Ed himself. The two young children found themselves bonding over a love of books and learning, and Ed used this to his advantage when it came to History of Magic, the only class that he could never focus enough in to take legible notes. Hermione, in turn, loved to question Edward about all the alchemy he knew.

"It's not a magic," he explained to her one afternoon by the common room fire, "I don't know why all these stupid textbooks we found say that it is, but it's  _not_. It is a science." Hermione leaned forward in interest.

"Is it really?" she asked him. "I was under the impression that no witches or wizards had any inkling of scientific knowledge."

"Apparently not," Ed remarked dryly, "if they say that it's magic. No wonder hardly anyone in the wizarding world can do alchemy. Lots of muggles in Amestris know how to use it."

The conversation went on for some time before Hermione brought up that night's Halloween feast. Ed looked at her in puzzlement when she mentioned the holiday, and she seemed shocked to learn that Halloween was not celebrated in the smaller boy's homeland.

"But, what about Christmas?" she asked, "And Easter?" Ed shook his head in amusement.

"Never even heard of them," he admitted. "Our country is run by the military, we don't have time for holiday's every other month. Though," he added, "we do celebrate the winter and summer solstices. That has to count for something."

* * *

Hermione was nowhere to be found after classes that day, and after he'd asked around, Ed had the sneaking suspicion that Ron Weasley had done something to make her upset. She had corrected him in lessons, and the boy had freaked out and acted as if her helping him was some great crime. Ed decided he wasn't too fond of the redheaded boy. His friend, however, wasn't too bad. Apparently he defeated some crazy tyrant as a baby (not that the alchemist really believed that, but hey, who's to say it didn't happen?) and was incredibly famous amongst the students.

He entered the Great Hall alone that evening for the feast, and he felt his jaw drop open slightly. Everything was decorated in reds and oranges, with autumn leaves and pumpkins adorning every surface available. He raised an eyebrow.

The food was, naturally, amazing. Ed wondered how exactly they made it taste so good. The ingredients weren't any stranger than what his mom had used in her cooking, or even Granny. Magically enhanced, perhaps. He shrugged, and continued shoving his face.

The doors the Great Hall opened with a loud  _bang_  that resonated throughout the hall, causing everyone's head to turn. There, in the doorway, stood the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, his usual turban upon his head, looking pale.

"Troll, in the dungeon." He said. "Thought you might want to know." He collapsed on the floor, and all of the students went ballistic.

Dumbledore instructed the prefects to bring all of the students into their common rooms, and Ed headed out with them, until he overheard the Potter kid saying something about Hermione being in the girl's bathroom and not knowing about the creature lurking about the school.

Ed felt his insides grow cold. He was not about to let his only friend at this school get eaten or attacked, or whatever it was trolls did (they hadn't had a lesson on them yet, nor had the prodigy come across one in the massive pile of books he had borrowed from the library). He took of at a run, following the other two boys in the direction of the girl's bathroom. They were quite a bit ahead of him, and that was when he heard the screams of a girl.

_Hermione_!

He charged into the bathroom, silently thanking his alchemy teacher for getting him into the best shape he could possibly be. He was met with the sight of Hermione cowering underneath a sink while Potter and Weasley tried to distract it. Potter had somehow managed to perch on its shoulders and had shoved his own wand up the hideous creatures nose. Ed looked around thinking of something to transmute to take care of the troll while not hurting Potter at the same time.

He transmuted the floor by Hermione to give her more coverage, and she looked around wildly, catching sight of her friend. Terror was written all over her face.

_"Wingardium Leviosa!"_  Weasley's voice was heard through the sounds of roaring and water spraying from ruined pipes. The club that the troll had clutched in its massive hands was now floating above its head. The thing stared at it's weapon in confusion, before it dropped, and with a  _thunk_ , it lay passed out on the floor of the bathroom.

Ed stood, panting. Potter got to his feet, shaking and out of breath, while Weasley stood there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.

Hermione broke the silence first.

"Is it… dead?"

"I think it just got knocked out," Ed told her, watching as Potter pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.

"Urgh, troll boogers." Potter muttered, wiping the gunk on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, followed closely by Professors Snape and Quirrell. The man with the turban took one glance down at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Ed snickered quietly to himself at the sight of the professor.

Snape bent over the troll. McGonagall was staring angrily at Potter and Weasley, white faced.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" the Head of Gryffindor asked the four of them, her voice full of cold fury. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?" Snape was giving Potter a piercing stare as the bespectacled boy stared at the ground.

Suddenly, in a small voice, "Please, Professor McGonagall, they were looking for me." All heads turned toward Hermione, on her feet and covered in water.

"Miss Granger!"

"I went looking for the troll, because I – I thought I could deal with it own my own, you know, because I've read all about them." Hermione, to Ed's shock (and apparently Potter and Weasley's, too), was lying. Ed knew that the girl had not, in fact, read anything about the trolls. Or, if she had, she hadn't told him anything about it. "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead by now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with it's own club. Ed did that-" she waved her hand at the transmuted floor "-to keep the troll from getting at me. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Ed kept his face unreadable, unlike Potter and Weasley who were trying their best to look like they knew what Hermione was saying. They didn't look all that convincing.

"Well, in that case…" McGonagall stared at the four of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head, and Ed couldn't help but admire the lying skills this girl possessed, but it also was strange to see Hermione acting so out of character. It'd be like if Winry started doing alchemy, or Izumi begun baking pies.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off the Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione left, but not before giving Ed a grateful look. Ed smiled at her. Professor McGonagall turned to the three boys.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

The three of them hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak a word until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Weasley grumbled.

"Ten, because of the five taken away from Hermione," Edward pointed out.

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," the redhead admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Potter said. Ed whirled around to face him.

"You  _locked_ it in with her? How stupid are you?" He said. Potter looked embarrassed.

"We, er, didn't know she was in there." Weasley muttered.

They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady that led into the common room.

"Pig snout," Ed said, and they entered.

The common room was packed and noisy, the students eating food that had been set up. Hermione, unlike the rest, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Ed patted his friend on the arm.

"Thanks, Hermione." She nodded with a small smile. They all hurried off to go get plates.

From that moment on, Ron and Harry became friends with Ed and Hermione. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

The fall weather in England was much, much colder than it was in Amestris. At least, in part where Ed was from. He shivered as he got out of bed and dressed that morning, adding a scarlet and gold scarf to his ensemble to stay warmer, and he hurried down to breakfast. Harry hadn't been seen much lately, probably due to all of that Quidditch practice the team's captain had forced on him. Ed felt a little sorry for him; this Wood guy seemed almost as bad as Izumi.

But then again, it was Izumi, so Wood was probably much,  _much_  more lenient than her.

Harry had remarked to Ed that he was grateful to be friends with him and Hermione, as the duo had helped to boy with his homework in between all of the last-minute Quidditch practices that wood was putting him though. Hermione had even lent Harry her copy of  _Quidditch Through the Ages_ , which Ed had found uninteresting, but Harry seemed to enjoy. Ed was not all that fond of participating in the sport; he had decided during the Gryffindor's first flying lesson that he didn't trust an object that he couldn't see how it worked. Screw magic, his ultimate trust would always lie in science.

"Are there really seven hundred ways to commit a foul in this weird game?" Ed asked, reading over Harry's shoulder. Harry nodded, not even glancing at his blonde friend.

"Mm."

Ed shrugged, and went back to his own book, a volume that Hermione had shoved into his hands earlier in the day,  _Hogwarts: a History_.

Hermione had even become a bit more relaxed about breaking the rules ever since Harry, Ron, and Edward had saved her from the troll on Halloween. She was a bit friendlier, in Ron and Harry's eyes, because lf it. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match, the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar.

They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Ed's golden eyes narrowed as he realized the slimy git was limping. Harry, Ron, Ed, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from the oncoming professors view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over, not seeming to notice the fire, but seemed to be looking for any reason at all to tell them off.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?"

Harry showed him the book.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

Ed was about to remark that Snape had just made that rule up – indeed, his mouth was already open – but Hermione gave him a hard kick to his left ankle, and he got the message; 'shut the hell up'.

"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as the giant bat limped away. Ed glared at the retreating professor.

"That's what I was about to say before I got attacked," he gave Hermione a baleful look as he rubbed his ankle. He was suddenly struck with curiosity. "Wonder how he got that limp?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.

* * *

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. The four friends sat together next to a window as Hermione and Ed checked Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will you learn?") but Ed didn't really mind and besides, by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.

Harry looked a bit restless, and he stood.

"I'm going to ask Snape if I can get the book back," he told the other three.

"Better you than me," they all said together, and Ed smirked. "Jinx!" Ron looked confused, and Hermione explained the rules of jinx to him. The bespectacled boy returned not long after.

"Did you get it?" Ron asked when Harry joined them. At the shake of his head, Edward frowned.

"What's the matter?"

In a low whisper, Harry told them what he had witnessed.

"Snape and Filch were there, just them, and Filch was helping Snape bandage his knee. He said something about not being able to keep an eye on three heads at once."

Ron, Hermione, and Edward watched him talk. Ron and Hermione seemed to be following the conversation easily enough, but Ed had no idea what Harry was getting at. Three heads? Was it possible that there was some sort of chimera at Hogwarts?

"You know what this means?" Harry finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween!" That's where he was going when we saw him, he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

"Hold up," Ed interrupted him. "First, what the  _hell_? The school is keeping a three-headed dog locked up? Is that why the third floor is off-limits? And second, I don't think Snape's trying to steal anything."

Harry looked ready to argue, but Ed held up a hand to silence him.

"Listen, even though Snape's the second biggest bastard I've ever met, I don't think he'd try and steal from the school. Dumbledore trusts him, and, nutty as the guy is, I trust the old guy's judgment."

"I agree with Ed." Hermione said, once Edward was finished. He flashed a smile at her.

"I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?" said Ron.

None of them could seem to come up with a good enough answer, so the four of them all headed off to bed.

* * *

The next morning was so, so cold, and Ed shivered, even beneath his heavy covers. He headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast with his friends, and the delightful smell of bacon and sausages hit his nose. He sighed longingly, eyes closed. Beside him, Ron looked like a salivating dog. The air was full of cheerful chatter of the students – and teachers – looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

"You've got to eat some breakfast," Ed said to Harry, bits of scrambled egg spraying out of his mouth as he spoke. "Most important meal of the day~"

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry."

Ed looked at his friend sympathetically. He looked like crap.

"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team." Ed shot him a look, and the boy shrugged, going back to his breakfast.

"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.

Shortly after eleven o'clock, Hermione, Ron, and Ed headed joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean up in the top row to get a good view of the match. To surprise Harry, they had pained a large banner on a sheet that Ron's rat, Scabbers, had ruined. It said 'Potter for President', and Dead, who turned out to be an exceptional artist, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Hermione had performed a tricky little charm on the banner, so that the paint flashed different colors.

Ed settled back into his seat, and waited for the match to begin.


	7. Chapter 7

Madam Hooch, the witch that had taught the first years how to fly their brooms properly, was refereeing the Quidditch match today. She stood in the middle of the field, waiting for the two teams, her own broom clutched in her hand.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said to the players, once they had gathered around her. Her words, Ed noticed (Hermione had noticed it as well, perceptive as she was), were directed more towards the green-clad Slytherin team than the Gryffindors, particularly the tall Slytherin Captain, whom Hermione informed him was a sixth year named Marcus Flint. Harry looked towards the group of his friends, and caught sight of the banner. Ed smiled encouragingly at him.

"Mount your brooms, please." The whistle was blown, and the fifteen players shot off into the sky.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too –"

Ed and Ron cracked up with laughter, realizing that it was the Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordon, who was doing the commentary for the match.

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

McGonagall was watching the third year boy like a hawk, determined to stop him from being inappropriate in anyway.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve - back to Johnson and - no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle up there - he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle - that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and - OUCH - that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger - Quaffle taken by the Slytherins - that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger - sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which - nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes - she's really flying - dodges a speeding Bludger - the goal posts are ahead - come on, now, Angelina - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

The roars of the Gryffindor students cheering were nearly defining. Ed found himself screaming, "In your faces, assholes!" at the top of his lungs. The Slytherins, however, howled and moaned with rage.

"Budge up there, move along."

Ed turned to see who was speaking, and found Hagrid edging his way through the students to get to Ed, Ron, and Hermione.

"Hagrid!"

Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.

"You're crushing me…" Ed managed to wheeze out from between his two friends. Ron smirked at him.

"Sorry, mate, didn't see you there."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT THERE'S A GREATER CHANCE OF SEEING THE SNITCH BEFORE ME?"

Ron snorted with laughter, and Hermione gave the redhead a disapproving look before glancing at Edward.

"No one said anything of the sort, Edward. Sit down, I'll make room for you." She did so, and Ed mumbled his thanks to her.

"Bin watchin' the match from me hut," said Hagrid, looking amused at Ed's outburst. He patted a large pair of binoculars around his neck. "But it isn't' the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?" Ed shook his head, his gaze focused on the dark haired boy flying around the pitch.

"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's something'," the giant man commented. He raised his binoculars and peered skyward at the speck that was Harry.

Suddenly, in a great rush, Harry dived downward after what must've been the Snitch. The Slytherin Seeker, Terrence Higgs, had seen it as well. Neck and neck the two players hurtled downwards. All of the Chasers seemed to have forgotten their part in the game and hung in the air, watching.

WHAM! A roar of rage sounded amongst the Gryffindors. Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, with the poor boy hanging on for dear life.

"Foul!" The Gryffindors screamed, with Ed adding something along the lines of, "go suck troll dick!" This earned the blonde boy a smack on the arm from Hermione, and he just grinned cheekily at her.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal post for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, the allusive Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Dean Thomas began yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"

"What are you talking about, Dean?" asked Ron, confused.

"Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In football, you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"

"Dean, this is the furthest thing from football I can imagine," Ed said to him, motioning towards the game.

Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side.

"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."

Lee Jordan was siding with Gryffindor on this, and it was very obvious from the way he commented on the situation.

"So, after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"

"Jordan, I'm warning you,"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue to play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Ed and the others watched as Harry dodged yet another Bludger, and then, to everyone's shock, his broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. Ed gripped Hermione's arm tightly, thinking his friend was going to fall. It happened again. It was as if the broom was trying buck him off. To Ed's knowledge, Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off.

Harry tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal posts, but the broom was entirely out of his command. It zigzagged through the air, making violent swishing movements.

Lee commented throughout the entire thing.

"Slytherin in possession, Flint with the Quaffle – passes Spinnet – passes Bell – hit hard in the face with a Bludger hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor – Slytherin score…"

The Slytherins were all cheering. No one had yet noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, twitching and jerking all the way.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom… but he can't have…"

People had begun to notice that the Gryffindor seeker was behaving oddly, staring and pointing up at him. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold one. Ed felt sick to his stomach as he watched.

Suddenly, the entire crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk, and he had swung off, now only holding on with a single hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"No," Ed whispered back, "Nothing can tamper with a broomstick except really powerful Dark magic. There's no way that a kid – even a Slytherin – could do that."

"Tha's true," Hagrid agreed with him. "No kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At these exchanges, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of aiming them at Harry, she frantically scanned the crowd.

"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, gray-faced. Ed frowned, thinking. If no student could curse the broomstick, then that left…

"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape, look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars from her, looked through them, and handed them over to Ed. Snape was in the middle of the stands directly opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry, and was muttering nonstop under his breath.

"He's jinxing the broom," Ed realized, turning to Hermione. Ron looked distressed.

"What should we do?"

"Leave it to me," Hermione said, sounding determined.

Before Ron or Ed could say another word, she had disappeared. Ron took the binoculars back from Ed and turned them back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard; it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasley's flew up to try and pull Harry onto on of their brooms, but it was no good. Every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell.

Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.

"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately. Ed scanned the crowd for sight of her, but saw nothing.

Within thirty seconds, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.

"Yo Neville, Harry's fine," said Edward. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

Harry was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw him clap his mouth as though he was about to be sick. He hit the field on all fours, coughed, and something gold fell into his hand.

_He had caught the Snitch!_

Lee Jordan was happily shouting the results of the match. Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. The four friends had headed back with Hagrid to his hut for cups of strong tea. Ed had demonstrated some of his talent with alchemy by using a transmutation circle to transmute the tea into coffee.

"It was Snape," Ron explained, "Hermione, Ed, and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering. He wouldn't take his eyes off of you."

"Hermione said she set him on fire," Ed added cheerfully. Harry looked at him as if he were a little mad.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?""

Ed's three friends exchanged glances. Ed frowned at them.

"Yeah, I still don't really know what's going on."

"I found out something about him," Harry told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped his teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he asked.

"You have a three-headed dog in the castle, and you call it Fluffy?" Ed said.

"Yeah, he's mine. Bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"

"Yes?" Harry leaned forward eagerly.

"Now don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

The rest of their time with Hagrid was spent with the foursome trying to convince Hagrid that Snape was indeed trying to steal whatever was being guarded, and that he had been trying to kill Harry, as well. Nothing stuck out to Ed, until…

"- You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel."

Now  _that_  was interesting. He would wait until the four of them were alone before he diverged any secrets to his friends.

 


	8. Chapter 8

"You know something about Flamel." It was a statement, not a question, which Harry voiced once the four friends had reached the Gryffindor common room. Ed smirked.

"Aw, what gave it away? I thought my poker face was perfect."

"You kept giggling all the way up here, Ed." Hermione pointed out.

"Oh." The blonde frowned. "Yeah, I know a bit about him. He's a really famous alchemist. My teacher has his symbol tattooed on her chest."

He proceeded to tell them all that he knew about the man, and that he had been around long ago ("He's definitely dead. No alchemy can keep you alive for longer than you're supposed to be."). Hermione, naturally, asked so many questions that Ed wondered just how she expected him to remember the original topic.

"What is this, a murder trial?" he grumbled, mostly to himself.

Another pointless holiday (in Ed's opinion, at least) would soon be arriving. On a cold mid-December morning, the students and faculty of Hogwarts awoke to find the grounds covered in thick, white blankets of snow. The lake was completely frozen, and many students had decided to take advantages of this and went ice-skating. Ed tried, but didn't like being in the cold very much. Instead, he chose to watch the Weasley twins tormenting Professor Quirrell by bewitching snowballs to smack the back of his turban. Needles to say, the two boys were punished for this.

Most of the students were excited for the holidays to start. The Great Hall and the common rooms had wonderfully warm fires. However, the halls and classrooms had become dreadfully cold. The dungeons were by far the worst.

Ed had overheard Malfoy in one Potions class say; "I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

His gaze was directed at Harry, who ignored him as he measured out potions ingredients. The stupid Slytherin bastard had been even more unbearable since the Quidditch match.

"I feel sorry for people who have to  _buy_  their friends," Ed said loudly, and Malfoy gave him a not-so-frightening glare. "They'll never know the joys of good company."

He lost five points for the taunt, but Harry smiled a bit, so it was worth it.

"You not going back home for the holiday?" Ed conversed with Harry as they walked out of the class. Harry shook his head.

"My aunt and uncle don't like me," he confessed. "You staying here?" A nod from the blonde boy.

"We don't celebrate Christmas in Amestris, so it's not like anyone's on break there. Besides, the only family I have to go back to is Al." He thought for a moment before adding, "And Winry and Granny, but they're only friends, so it doesn't really count."

When they left the dungeons, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked as he stuck his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right. Thanks, Ron."

"Why the hell are you carrying a tree inside?" Ed asked curiously.

"For Christmas, o' course!" Hagrid said. "How do you not know about Christmas?"

"He's from that weird country," Ron said dryly by way of explanation, and Hagrid chuckled.

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose. That hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ed tried to hold his friend back, he really did. But Ron was taller (not that Ed would ever admit it) than the alchemist, and was fueled by rage. He dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron reluctantly let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face from out behind the tree. "Malfoy was insulting his family."

"He's a little slimy bastard," Ed growled under his breath. Luckily for him, Snape didn't seem to hear his remark.

"Be that as it may, fighting is against the rules at Hogwarts. Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

The three Slytherin idiots roughly pushed past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at the retreating Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him."

"And I'll be there to help you," Edward told him with a serious expression. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape."

"Come on, cheer up. It's nearly Christmas," Ed rolled his eyes at Hagrid's mention of the holiday. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

The four of them followed the ground's keeper to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations. Even though he thought all of the celebrating was a waste of time, Ed could not deny that the Hall looked wonderful.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree. Put it in the far corner, would you?"

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," Hermione answered him. "And that reminds me – Harry, Ron, Ed, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Okay," Ed shrugged, "Not like I have anything better to do."

"The library?" said Hagrid, following the foursome out of the hall, "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry informed him brightly, "We're trying to find the connection between Dumbledore and Flamel. Ed knows who he is."

Ed smiled smugly at the giant man, who stared down at them in shock.

"You what?" Hagrid asked. "Listen here, I've told yeh, drop it. It's nothing to you what the dog's guardin'."

"We're naturally curious little bastards," Ed said with a smile, "Everything is our business."

"You could save us the trouble and tell us yourself?" Harry added. "Can't even  _find_  him in any of the books we've looked at. Though, I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothing'," Hagrid said firmly.

"We'll just have to look for ourselves, then," Ron said, and they left poor Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

Hermione, who was going back home for the Christmas break, asked the boys to keep looking for any correlation between the Hogwarts Headmaster and the legendary alchemist. She requested them to send her an owl if they found anything on Flamel and Dumbledore.

Once the holidays had started, Ron, Ed, and Harry were enjoying themselves too much to thing much about Flamel. They had the dorms to themselves, and the common room was nearly empty, so they scored the comfiest armchairs close to the fire. They sat there, roasting things on a toasting fork (Ed  _loved_  literally all the food that entered his mouth; Harry and Ron wondered how he was still as small as he was), and plotting ways to get Malfoy expelled from the school – fun to envision, though the boys all knew that there was no way they'd ever work. Ah well, one could dream.

Ron started teaching the other two boys how to play chess. Ed vaguely knew how to play regular chess – he had played it when he still bothered to go to school in Risembool – but he found this version much more fascinating. This form was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, making it quite similar to directing troops in battle. Ron's set was very old and battered. It had previously belonged to his grandfather, and Ron knew the pieces so well he never had any trouble getting them to do what he wanted.

Harry and Ed used a set borrowed from Seamus Finnigan, and they didn't trust Harry at all, shouting confusing advise at him. Ed did well in the game, and if he used a little alchemy to his advantage, well, no one could tell.

"Ed, stop transmuting the board, I can  _see_  you doing it!"

On Christmas Eve the boys went to bed excited for the following day. Ron, because of presents and food; Harry, because of the fun sure to come; and Ed: food, and only food. Edward was completely surprised to see a few presents at the end of his bed the next morning, not expecting anyone to give him anything.

"Merry Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Ed sat in his pajamas, blinking at the presents. Apparently Harry wasn't planning on getting any, either.

"Will you look at this? I've got some presents!" he said.

"I do, as well." Ed added.

"What did you expect, turnips? Honestly, you two…" Ron turned to his own pile, which was as big as both Ed and Harry's combined.

Ed opened his first package, a small bag of peppermint toads from Hermione, and moved on to the next. He received a small, carved dragon - closely resembleing the one found on the Amestrian flag – from Hagrid, a box of Every Flavor Beans from Ron, a book on trolls from Harry ("Haha, very funny," Ed had told him sarcastically, and Harry just grinned), and, to Ed's shock, an alchemy book from his brother. He had mentioned in a recent letter the upcoming holiday, and Al must've not wanted Ed to be alone in not celebrating.

One package was left, a lumpy one at that. Inside was a red sweater with a black dragon on the front, apparently from Ron's mother. Ed felt grateful to the woman, though the two had never met. Harry had received one as well, along with some homemade fudge.

Ed's train of thought was interrupted by a gasp from Ron, and he looked over to see Harry holding a long, silvery gray object.

"I've heard of those," Ron said in a hushed voice, dropping a box of candy that Hermione had given him. "If that's what I think it is, they're really rare, and really valuable."

"Yes, please continue to be overwhelmingly vague about it," Ed snorted.

"What is it?" Harry asked, picking it up from off of the floor.

"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is."

"What the hell are you waiting for, put it on!" Ed ordered.

Harry obediently threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell.

"It is! Look down!"

Ed's eyes were threatening to burst from his skull as he beheld the sight in front of him. Every inch of Harry's body – below the neck – was gone, completely and utterly gone. Ed spluttered to himself, trying to think of a scientific way of explaining this phenomenon, but came up with nothing. Sometimes, the whole 'it is how it is because magic' thing annoyed the hell out of him.

Harry looked down at his feet and dashed to the mirror to observe the effect the cloak had. Pulling the cloak over his head, his reflection vanished completely.

"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly, "A note fell out it!"

"I want to see!" Ed demanded, but Ron held the slip of paper over the smaller boy's head so that he couldn't grab it. Ed growled at him. If he could remember where he'd put his chalk, he would  _so_ make Ron pay.

Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. He didn't read it out loud, and his face gained a strange look.

"I wanna  _see_ ," Ed moaned, but did not make to grab it this time. Ron kept admiring the cloak.

"I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?" he added. He, too, had noticed Harry's odd expression.

"Nothing," said Harry.

Before either Ron or Edward could say or think of anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George bounded in. Harry stuffed the cloak out of sight. Probably a good thing, Ed noted, given the Weasley twin's track record.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look, Harry and Ed have Weasley sweaters, too!"

Fred and George were wearing matching blue sweaters; the only difference being one had a large yellow F on it, the other a G.

"Theirs are better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's sweater while George examined Ed's. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

The rest of Christmas day was wonderful. Ed watched in amusement as the twins forced Percy to wear his own sweater, and the feast that they shared with the teachers that evening was, simply, amazing.

Maybe Ed liked Christmas after all.


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

"You could have woken us up," Ron said crossly at breakfast. Harry had apparently seen a super cool mirror in an empty classroom, one that showed your entire family when you stared into it.

"You might've ended up with a broken face, but yeah, you could've woken us up," Ed added around a mouthful of bacon.

"You two can come tonight, I'm going back." Harry said to them. "I want to show you the mirror."

"I'd like to see your mum and dad," Ron said eagerly. Ed nodded.

"And I want to see all of your families, all the Weasley's, you'll be able to show me your other brothers, and Ed can show me his brother and parents."

"You can see mine any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people. Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something before Ed eats it all. Why aren't you eating anything?"

"Harry?" Ed said questioningly, poking his friend on the arm. "Are you all right?"

"You look odd," Ron added.

Harry shook his head and mumbled something about being fine, but Ed didn't buy it for one moment.

The three boys walked slowly under the invisibility cloak that night ("Thank God Ed's so short, I don't think we could've fit him otherwi- OW!"). They had tried retracing Harry's route from the library the night before, wandering around in the dark passageways for nearly an hour.

"It's  _cold_ ," Ed complained. "Let's forget it and go back."

"No!" Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."

They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction, but saw no one else. Just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold (and Ed helpfully suggested to set them on fire), Harry called out, "It's here, just here, yes!"

The three of them pushed the door open. Harry dropped the cloak from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror. Ed craned his neck to see if he could catch sight of Harry's parents in the glass, but saw only Harry's own reflection.

"See?" Harry whispered.

"I can't see anything." Ron said.

"Look! Look at them all, there are loads of them…"

"Harry, I can only see you in the mirror," Ed informed him. Harry frowned.

"Look in it properly, go on, and stand where I am."

Ron took the spot from Harry. Once again, the only reflection was that of the boy standing in front of the mirror. However, Ron looked transfixed at his image.

"Look at me!" he said.

"What? Do you see your family, too?" Ed asked curiously.

"No, I'm alone, but I'm different. I look older, and I'm head boy!"

"What?"

"What?!"

"I am, I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to, and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup, I'm Quidditch captain, too."

"My turn!" Ed said in a loud whisper, shoving Ron away from the mirror none to gently.

He was standing in front of his mother – his lovely, wonderful mother – with Alphonse standing next to him. Even his father was there, smiling at his son like he actually cared. The Rockbelle's stood in the background, and Ed's throat felt tight with emotion.

Ron looked at Harry.

"Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? Both of our families are dead." Harry motioned towards Edward. "And, let me have another look-"

"You had it all night last night," Ed hissed, looking away. "I want to see my mom!"

"I want to see my parents, as well!"

"Don't you push me, jerk!"

There was a sudden noise in the corridor outside, and it put an end to their discussion. They hadn't realized how loudly they had been talking."

"Quick!" Ron through the cloak back over them, just as that scraggly cat – Mrs. Norris – entered the room, luminous eyes looking for something – or someone.

"This isn't safe, she might have gone for Filch. I bet she heard us. Come on." Ron pulled Harry out of the room; with Ed giving him helpful nudges from behind.

* * *

The snow was still there in the morning, shining tauntingly from outside.

"Evil white stuff," Ed growled at it quietly from the dorm window. Harry and Ron weren't in their beds, but that could be because Ed had slept pretty late. "I hate you almost as much as milk."

He walked down to the common room to see where the other two boys had gone off to, and found them sitting by the fireplace.

"Want to play chess, Harry?" Ron was asking the dark haired boy.

"No."

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?"

"No, you go…"

"I know what your'e thinking about, Harry, that mirrir. Don't go back tonight."

"Why not?"

"I dunno, I've just got a bad feeling about it. And anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"

"You sound like Hermione."

"Harry, listen to him. He's actually got a valid point this time." Ed said, walking over to them. "If something happened, you could get that cloak confiscated by Snape or Filch."

Ron nodded in agreement. Harry said nothing.

Later that night, Ed heard Harry getting out of bed and rummaging through his trunk to get his cloak. Ed sat up, planning to stop his friend, but decided that if he got into trouble, it was his own fault. He scowled and went back to sleep.

Harry revealed that Dumbledore had been in the room with the mirror that third night, and that the mirror itself had been moved to a new location. Harry, to Ed and Ron's relief, was not going to go looking for it again, and the cloak stayed hidden in his trunk for the rest of the break.

He also told the two that, ever since he stopped going to the mirror, he'd begun having nightmares of his parents disappearing in a flash of green light, accompanied by a high voiced laughter.

"You see," said Ron when Harry told them about the dreams, "Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad."

"We wouldn't want our friend to be a crazy lunatic – at least, no more than usual." Ed said with a shit-eating grin.

Hermione, who had arrived back at the school the day before the term started, had a different view of things. She was absolutely horrified at the idea of Harry being out of bed for three nights in a row, but she was also disappointed that he hadn't found anything else on Flamel (" _Hypocrite_ ," Ed coughed under his breath, ignoring her scalding look).

They had almost given up hope of ever finding more on the illusive Flamel in a library book (even though Harry insisted he had read the name somewhere). Once the term started, they were back to skimming through books during their ten minute breaks between classes. Harry had even less time than the other three, due to Quidditch practice starting up again. Ed felt a little bit sorry for him, and would correct his homework for him while the friends sat by the fire.

Ed watched one evening, a particularly rainy one, as Ron and Hermione played chess. Chess just so happened to be the  _only_  thing that Hermione had ever lost at, but Ed thought that it was a good dose of realism for the girl.

Harry came into the common room, soaking wet and carrying his broom.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," Ron said as Harry sat down next to him. "I need to concen- What's the matter with you? You look terrible." He did, indeed, look terrible. His face was pale and serious.

"Harry? You okay, buddy?" Ed asked him.

"Snape's going to be refereeing the next Quidditch match," Harry informed them in a whisper.

"Don't play," said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"Force yourself to puke," said Edward.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.

" _Really_  break your leg," Ed said, a maniac gleam in his eye.

Harry subtly scooted away from the blonde alchemist.

"I can't," he said. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

It was at that moment that Neville Longbottom fell through the portrait hole into the common room. How he had managed to climb through it was a mystery to Ed, because the poor boys legs had been stuck together with what he instantly recognized as the Leg-Locker Curse.

The mental image of Neville trying to bunny hop all the way to the top of the tower made Ed snigger a little bit, but he went over to help him. He preformed the countercurse and the other boy's legs sprung apart.

"What happened?" Hermione asked him as Ed lead him over to sit with them.

"Malfoy," said Neville in a shaky voice. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice on."

"That's it," Ed stood up, "I'm going to teach that bastard a lesson." Ron and Harry each grabbed one of his arms, and he struggled in the taller boys grasps. Hermione continued to talk with Neville.

"Go to Professor McGonagall," she urged him. "Report him!" Neville shook his head.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"I'm only going to hurt him a little, come on, I'll borrow the, uh, Harry's  _thing_ , and they'll never know it was me!"

Neville looked over curiously at Ed.

"Neville needs to stand up for himself," Ron told Ed firmly. "He needs to stop letting people walk all over him."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.

Harry gave Neville a Chocolate Frog.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," he said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville seemed to be encouraged by Harry's words. He unwrapped and ate his frog, and gave Harry the card that came with it. Harry looked down at it after Neville walked away.

"Dumbledore again," he said. "He was the first one I ever-" He gasped, staring at the card before looking at his bewildered friends.

"I've found it!" he whispered. "I found the connection between Flamel and Dumbledore. I told you I read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"

Hermione jumped to her feet, looking the most excited Ed had seen her since the beginning of the year when their first homework was passed back.

"Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. The boys barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she returned carrying an old, heavy book.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"And you didn't share?" Ed said in a pitiful tone. She sent him a dry look.

"Light?" said Ron.

"Be quiet!" Hermione began flicking frantically though the pages, muttering to herself.

"I think she's gone a bit cuckoo," Ed muttered quietly to Harry, who snorted a bit.

At last, Hermione found what she was looking for.

"I knew it, I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" asked Ron grumpily. Hermione ignored him.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered with a dramatic air, "is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone."

Ed's eyes bulged and he made a weird sound in the back of his throat.

"The  _Stone_ …" he whispered, partially to himself. "That thing is legendary!"

This caught the other two's attention for sure.


	10. Chapter 10

_The ancient study of alchemy is connected with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

_There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday las year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty eight)._

"What a load of crap," Ed commented after reading the passage in the book. "First off, in Amestris at least, making gold can be done with  _any_  alchemy, but it's completely illegal."

"Why would it be illegal?" Ron asked.

"Screws with the economy," Ed shrugged. "And I've never heard of any 'elixir of life', so I don't know about that one, but it does enhance any alchemical transmutation you do, so yeah."

"The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dkumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!" Hermione said.

"Well, yeah," Ed said, "I mean, a stone that enhances alchemy and apparently stops you from dying? No wonder Snape wants it. Hell, I kinda want it."

Hermione gave him a disapproving look, which he decided to ignore.

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel's involvement with Dumbledore in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," added Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

* * *

"I don't really know…" was the response Edward gave when, in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, he, Harry, and Ron were discussing what they'd do with a Stone if they had one. That was, of course, a lie. Ed knew exactly what he'd do with a Stone; he would bring his mother back from the dead. Perhaps, if all went well, Dumbledore might actually let him use the Stone…? No, probably not.

"I'd buy myself my own Quidditch team," Ron declared.

"Speaking of Quidditch," Harry added, "I'm going to play. If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them… it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Hermione.

"Hey Harry, if you die, can I have your cloak?" asked Ed. Seeing the glare Hermione gave him, he added defensively, "It was just a question!"

In the following weeks leading up to the Quidditch match, Ed observed that Snape was being even more of a dick to the Gryffindors, especially Harry. Ed wondered idly if Snape had maybe found out that they knew about the Stone. Snape was creepy enough; he could probably read minds or something.

The day of the match, Ed, Ron, and Hermione met Harry outside the locker rooms to wish him luck in the game.

"Don't get set on fire or something," Ed said cheerfully.

The three of them found a place in the stands next to Neville, who had no idea why they looked so worried, or why they had their wands with them (Ed had brought some chalk in case he would need it). They had all been practicing the Leg-Locker Curse in case of any sign of trouble. The idea had actually come from Malfoy using it on Neville, and they were more than ready to use it on Snape if need be.

"Now, don't forget, it's  _Locomotor Mortis_ ," Hermione whispered to the boys as they hid their wands from view.

"I know," Ed muttered back, as Ron snapped, "Don't nag."

"I didn't know Dumbledore was coming to the match," Neville commented out of the blue.

Ed, Ron, and Hermione followed his gaze to see that Dumbledore had indeed attended the game, and Ed felt marginally better about how this match would turn out.

"Snape looks more like an asshole than usual," Ed pointed out.

"I've never seen him look so mean," Ron said. "Look, they're off – Ouch!"

Someone had poked Ron hard in the back of the head. It was Malfoy. Ed made to get up, but Hermione jabbed him in the ribs with her wand.

" _No_ ," she hissed at him. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there."

Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you Weasley."

Ron, wisely, chose to ignore him, keeping his eyes on the match.

"You know how I think they chose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded a Hufflepuff a penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got not money, you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got not brains."

Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

The three Slytherin goons howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes off of the game, said, "You tell him, Neville," and Ed patted his arm encouragingly.

"Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron looked like he wanted to kill Malfoy. Ed didn't blame him; he wanted to teach that slimy punk a lesson, too. He leaned close to Malfoy.

"If brains were gold, you'd be out on the streets, you little weasel-faced troll dick," he snarled. Malfoy's eyes narrowed.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy, one more word-"

"Ron, Ed!" said Hermione suddenly, "Harry!"

"What?" Ron asked as Ed said, "Where?"

Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth as Harry streaked towards the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.

Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help. Ed gleefully began to repeatedly smash his fist into one of Malfoy's goons face.

Hermione was screaming something above them as the boys tumbled around under the seats, yelps coming from them.

"Ron! Ed! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's one, we've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!"


	11. Chapter 11

"We won!" You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Ed busted on of his goon's lips, and Neville tried to take them on single-handed!"

"Granted," Ed added, "he's still out cold, but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right."

"Talk about showing Slytherin!" Ron continued. "Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you here this…"

They made sure Peeves the Poltergeist wasn't inside the room before shutting the door behind them, and Harry told them all that he had seen and heard after the match.

"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus', I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through -"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

Ed put his face in his hands and groaned.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.

However, Quirrell must've been braver than they'd originally anticipated. In the weeks that followed, his appearance did seem be deteriorating – he was growing paler and thinner – but it didn't seem like he had given in to Snape quite yet.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, the boys and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was inside. They never actually opened the door, and for that Ed was glad. He'd never actually seen the three-headed dog, nor did he want to.

Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was not yet within his grasp. Whenever Ed saw Quirrell, he would wave at him, hoping to keep him cheered up. Harry smiled encouragingly at him, and Ron had begun to tell people off for laughing about the turbaned professor's stutter.

Hermione had more to focus on than just the Philosopher's Stone, however. She had begun preparing for the final exams of the term. She had been pressuring the boys (mostly Ron and Harry; Ed could take care of himself just fine in her mind) to do so as well, but they didn't take it that seriously.

"Hermione, you do know the exams are pretty far away, right?" Ed asked, stretching out on a chair in the common room, Hermione furiously reviewing her notes.

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for? You already know it all."

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy?" Hermione proceeded to rant about how important these exams were to their future academic careers, and Ed sighed, draping an arm across his face. He didn't want to hear about more school just now.

But, naturally, the teachers seemed to be on the same wavelength as Hermione on this particular topic. There was so much homework to do that even Ed was having troubling completing it all. With all of this work, the Easter Holidays were a bit of a drag compared to the Christmas ones. There was little chance to relax, and Hermione was always practicing wand movements and reciting notes out loud. Nearly all of the friend's free time was spent in the library, trying to complete all of their extra schoolwork.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down the quill he had been writing with, and looking out longingly of the library window. It was the first nice weather that had been seen in months, and Ed ached to go outside and relish in the warmth.

Something caught his eye, a very large, very hairy something.

"Hagrid? What are you doing in the library?" Ron said suddenly.

Ed's head (as well as Harry and Hermione's) whipped around to see that Hagrid was indeed inside the library. He was hiding something behind his back, and looked marginally out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said. His voice was a bit suspicious, and Ed stared hard at him, trying to decipher just what the actions meant. "An' what're you lot up ter?" Oh yeah, definitely suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' for more on Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Nah, we found that out a long time ago," Ed said with a hint of a smirk.

"And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St-"

"Shhh!" Hagrid hushed them and looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"Yeah, buddy, even I know not to do that."

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the stone apart from Fluffy-"

"SHHH!" Hagrid quieted the boy. "Listen, come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go blabbin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh."

"Later, then," Ed bid him farewell, and the large man shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" asked Hermione thoughtfully.

"A book on something he doesn't want us to know about," the blond boy supplied.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the Stone?" Harry asked.

Ron, who'd had enough of working for one day, said, "I'm going to see what section he was in," and disappeared, coming back with a pile of books in his arms and slamming the down on the table.

Dragons. Hagrid was researching dragons. Ed sighed wearily. If Hagrid was researching dragons (dragon rearing and dragon care, oh my), that could in no way lead to good things. He listened as Ron explained that dragon breeding had outlawed over two hundred years ago to keep the Muggles from becoming suspicious.

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Harry.

"They couldn't get all of them out of the country," Ed informed him. "I don't quite remember what kinds exactly live her, but Muggles actually spot them every once in a while."

"Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks." Ron said. "The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. We have to keep putting spells on those Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget." Ed nodded in agreement.

They knocked on the door to Hagrid's hut, and were surprised to see that all of the curtains were closed; blocking any sight they would've had into the windows.

Just what had Hagrid done?


	12. Chapter 12

It was nearly  _unbearably_ hot inside of Hagrid's home, which made absolutely no sense, seeing as it was actually a warm day (for once) outside.

"So, yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" was the first thing Hagrid said to them once they were inside.

There was no point denying it, so Harry just answered bluntly, "Yes. We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid merely frowned at him.

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don't know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn't tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here for a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'ppose yeh've already worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

Ed raised his hand.

"Actually, I didn't know about your monster pet 'til they told me."

Hermione tried to play on Hagrid's good side by offering him sugarcoated compliments. She was swelling the large man's pride to be sure. The boys beamed at her.

Apparently, after Dumbledore borrowed Fluffy from Hagrid, some of the teachers did enchantments to guard the Stone. Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell, and-

"Snape?" the four friends said together in disbelief.

"Yeah, yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Ed seriously doubted that; Snape could just be using Dumbledore's trust to his advantage, making it even easier for him to take the Stone for himself. He probably knew everything he needed to get past the enchantments, save the spell Quirrell used and how to get past the three-headed dog.

Harry double-checked to make sure that no one (besides Dumbledore and Hagrid) knew how to get past the dog; they didn't. That made Ed feel a little more relieved.

"Hagrid," Ed complained loudly. "Since when did your house become a sauna? Can't we open a window?"

"Can't, Ed, sorry," Hagrid said. He glanced at the fire, and the four heads turned to look at it as well.

"Hagrid, what's that?" Harry asked.

Ed recognized the object in the fire from the numerous books he and Hermione had borrowed from the library. Underneath the kettle, settled in the heart of the fire was a huge, black, dragon's egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, messing with his beard in a nervous manner, "That's, er,"

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

Their bearded friend explained how he had actually won the egg from a game of cards. He had even decided to keep  _and raise_  the damned thing!

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," Hermione tried to make him see reason, but to no avail.

"If you get fired," Ed grumbled, "I'm denying ever being here."

* * *

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron mused. Evening after evening, they (well, Ron and Harry, anyway) struggled to get through the mounds of extra homework bestowed on them by their professors. Hermione had tried making them study schedules, but they didn't want to use them (Ed felt that he knew the subject matter well enough that he didn't even need it).

At breakfast, Harry's owl, Hedwig brought him a note from Hagrid. Only two words were written within; it's hatching.

Ron and Ed wanted to skip Herbology and just head straight down, but Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Hermione, think of what we could  _learn_  from the experience," Ed said, with Ron adding, "How many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"

She still wouldn't budge.

"We've got lessons, we'll get in trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing-"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered.

Malfoy was only a few feet away, and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Harry didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.

In the end, Ed ended up not going down to see the dragon with his friends; Snape had caught him trying to prank Malfoy in the hall, and he now had detention for the entire night, helping to put new labels on the jars and bottles of potions ingredients. He had never resented the slimy grease-ball more.

It was very close to midnight by the time his detention ended, and he trudged his way up to Gryffindor tower, stopping short in the common room when he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting by the fireplace, looking worried.

"What's up?" he asked them, sinking into one of the armchairs with a tired groan.

Hermione bit her lip, and looked towards Harry. Ron looked livid.

"Malfoy," Harry spat, "saw the dragon hatch."

"Shit," Ed said simply. "I could always use alchemy to-"

Hermione shook her head as she interrupted him.

"You've already got in trouble once because of that, don't try it again. We'll figure something out." She said.

For the next week, Malfoy had a smug smile on his stupid face. He hadn't yet told anyone about the dragon, but that didn't mean he wasn't waiting for the perfect time to strike.

"Just set the damned thing free," Ed urged Hagrid.

"I can't," he said. "He's too little, he'd die."

They looked to the 'little' dragon, which had (according to everyone present for the hatching) grown three times in length within one week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the stupid thing was keeping him way too busy.

To make things worse, Hagrid had named the thing Norbert.

"Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered in Ed's ear.

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.

Hagrid bit his lip.

"I, I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Harry suddenly turned to Ron. "Charlie," he said.

"Uh, Harry?" Ed said tentatively, "I think you're losing it, too. This is Ron, remember?"

"No, Charlie, Ron's brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying Dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie and ask him.


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

The following week dragged by. On Wednesday, Hermione and Harry sat with Ed in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole swung open. Ron appeared out of nowhere, pulling Harry's invisibility cloak off of him. He had been down at Hagrid's, helping him to feed Norbert.

"It bit me!" Ron said, showing them his hand wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me, he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

Ed patted Ron's arm in sympathy.

"Sorry, mate. At least it's going to be over soon."

There was a tap on the dark window.

"It's Hedwig," said Harry, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The foursome put their heads together to read the note.

_Dear Ron,_

_How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

_Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

_Send me an answer as soon as possible._

_Love,_

_Charlie_

They looked at one another.

"Using the invisibility cloak might help," Ed offered. "It shouldn't be too difficult. I think it's big enough to cover at least two of us and the damned dragon."

"That sounds reasonable," Hermione said, and the other two boys agreed.

They were all willing to do anything to get rid of Norbert – and Malfoy.

However, things weren't going quite as planned. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to the hospital wing – Madam Pomfrey would more than likely recognize the bite of a dragon – but by the afternoon, Ron had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It would appear that Norbert's fangs were poisonous.

Ed escorted his friend to the hospital wing, and Harry and Hermione rushed up at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.

Ron and Ed explained to the two that, not only was Ron going to be stuck in bed for a while, but also Malfoy had come to visit him in the hospital wing under the guise of borrowing a book.

"He kept threatening to hell her what really bit me – I told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me – I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

The three friends tried to calm Ron down.

"It'll all be over midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all On the contrary, he say bolt upright and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no, oh no, I've just remembered, Charlie's letter was in the book that Malfoy took, he's going to know where we're getting rid of Norbert."

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Hermione and Ed. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it."

"We have your cloak," Ed reminded him, "Malfoy doesn't know about that."

They visited Hagrid to tell him the news, and after seeing just how devious and nasty the little dragon was getting, Ed couldn't wait for Saturday night.

He would've felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and Ed and Harry (they had convinced Hermione that she was to wait for them in the common room) were a bit late arriving for Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wit for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against a wall. Hagrid had already packed Norbert in a large crate, with lots of rats and brandy for the long journey.

"An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely." Said a tearful Hagrid.

From inside the crate, Ed could hear the dragon tearing the poor teddy bear was being decapitated. He cringed.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and Ed covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"

"It's  _heavy_ ," Ed hissed under his breath as they made their way back to the castle.

"What d'you expect, it's a dragon!" Harry retorted. "And be quiet."

Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors, up another staircase, then another, even one of Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier.

"Nearly there," Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

There was a movement ahead of them, and the suddenness of it nearly made the two boys drop the crate. They ducked into the shadows, momentarily forgetting that they weren't currently visible.

Professor McGonagall, in a bathrobe and hairnet, was dragging Draco Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin. Wandering about in the middle of the night, how dare you-"

"You don't understand, Professor, Harry Potter's coming, he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies Come on, I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy."

Ed sighed in relief as the two figures disappeared from sight.

"Ah, Malfoy's got detention, I could  _kiss_  McGonagall!"

"Please don't."

* * *

Charlie's friends were a cheery group of people. They showed Harry and Ed the harness they'd rigged up so that they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle the young dragon safely into it, and then Ed and Harry shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, at long, long, last, the dragon was gone.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands. Norbert was gone, no more dragon, Malfoy in detention, what could possibly go wrong?

Ed suddenly recalled that they'd left the cloak back on top of the tower, and sprinted back to grab it, drapping it over himself as he did so. He headed back towards Harry, and stopped short.

Filch was leering at Harry.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."

_Damn_. Ed would've shown himself, but he didn't want to risk getting caught as well, and besides, what good would it have done?

_Sorry, Harry_ , he thought glumly before heading back to Gryffindor tower.


	14. Chapter 14

"You  _left_  him there?" Hermione hissed at Ed once he had returned to the tower without Harry. "And you didn't even try to help him?"

"How could I?' Ed replied, feeling somewhat annoyed. "Filch caught him because we forgot the cloak and I went to go back for it. If I'd revealed myself to help Harry, I would've got in trouble, too, and the cloak might've been confiscated."

Hermione still looked livid.

"Neville tried leaving the tower a little while ago," she said after a long moment of silence. "Apparently, he was going to warn the two of you that Malfoy was going to turn you in."

"Neville was going to do that?" Ed said, a little shocked and grateful towards the boy for attempting that.

"Yes, he was. If I hadn't been here, he probably would have left and been caught."

Not too long after, Harry returned to the tower, looking quite upset. Ed rushed over to him.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I am." Ed tried to explain to his friend. "We forgot the cloak, and I went back to grab it so that no one would take it, I should've grabbed you and taken you with me, I-"

"Fifty points, Ed, fifty points." Harry pushed past him and headed into the boys dorm.

Ed fell back, disappointed, but understanding the anger his friend was feeling.

* * *

At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points.

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"

Only Ron and Hermione stood by him. The three of the, even Hermione, were currently not on speaking terms with Ed.

Ed, as consequence, was more subdued and quiet than he had ever been in his entire life. He sat alone at meals, constantly looking over at his 'friends'. He could understand why they'd be upset with them – abandoning his friend in need was not a move he was proud of – but did they have to react so drastically? Angrily, he stabbed a bit of steak with his fork. Fine, he didn't need them. Besides, exams weren't too far off, and he needed to study for them if he wanted to get a perfect score on them.

About one week before exams were set to begin, Ed was walking out of the library when he caught sight of Harry. Ed didn't know any shortcuts to get to the tower from here, so he just followed the dark haired boy from a distance. Suddenly, he heard whimpering from a classroom up ahead. Curiously, he drew closer until he and Harry were right next to each other, though neither boy noticed the other.

"No – no - not again, please-"

It was Quirrell's voice, and it sounded as if someone was threatening him. Harry looked over to Ed, and – for the first time in days – he didn't look angry with him. Instead, his face was filled with concern for the professor.

"All right – all right –" they heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell rushed out of the classroom, fixing his turban as he went. He looked pale and upset, Ed noticed, and hadn't even acknowledged the two boys. Glancing at Harry, Ed leaned his head inside the room to see if anyone else was in there. It was empty, but another door stood open at the other end.

The two boys returned to the library, and Ed saw that both Hermione and Ron were there as well. Hermione appeared to be testing Ron on astronomy. Ron looked surprised to see Ed and Harry together, but not entirely mad, so Ed took that as a sign that he and Hermione were no longer upset with him. Or, at least, less upset.

"What-" Ron began, but Harry cut him off.

"Quirrell was arguing with someone in an empty classroom," he said.

"And he said 'all right' to whoever he was arguing with." Ed finished.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his anti-dark force spell-"

"There's still Fluffy, though," interjected Hermione, looking at Ed as she spoke.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry, Ed?"

The light of adventure burned bright in Ron's blue eyes, but Hermione answered before either boy got the chance.

"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves, we'll be thrown out for sure."

Ed hesitated before speaking.

"From what I've experienced, adults don't usually take kids for their word, especially without evidence. I think that if we want to stop Snape from getting the Stone, we're going to have to do it ourselves." He informed them.

Harry nodded.

"Quirrell's too scared to back us up, so we don't have any proof. "Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor. Who do you think they'll believe, him or us?" he said. "It's not exactly a secret that we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone, or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

Ed smiled in agreement, and Hermione looked convinced. Ron, however, was not.

"If we just do a bit of poking around-"

"No," Ed said firmly. "We've done enough of that as it is."

The conversation was put to an end, and, friends once more, the four of them returned to their studies.


	15. Chapter 15

"Good luck with detention, Harry. I could go with, if you wanted…" Ed offered, but Harry shook his head.

"You'll just try to kill Malfoy the entire time. Not," he added, "like he doesn't deserve it."

Ed watched the other boy leave

It was a long while before he returned, and Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room as he, Hermione, and Ed waited for Harry to come back. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was as wide-awake as the other two when Harry began to tell them about what had happened in the forest.

Harry was shaking, and Ed pulled him into an armchair by the fire.

"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort… and Voldemort's waiting in the forest… and all this time we thought Snape was just trying to get rich…"

"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper.

"Ron, the guy  _wants_  us to be afraid of his name," Ed told him. "And are we going to give this jerk what he wants? No."

Ron still looked quite upset.

Harry paid him no mind.

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so... Bane was furious... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen... They must show that Voldemort's coming back... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me... I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.

Harry continued on still, talking about Snape and Voldemort as if they were the only things that existed anymore.

Hermione tried to comfort her friend.

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

"It's getting light out," Ed informed the group. "We should head to bed if we wanna get any actual sleep tonight. Er, today?"

"So hot," Ed muttered to himself as he took a written exam in one of the large classrooms. Harry, a few seats away from him, looked jittery and nervous, as if he expected Voldemort to come bursting into the school any moment now.

Practical exams went well for Edward, though not quite as well as his written exams. Professor Flitwick called them into his classroom one by one to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk (Ed's seemed to do more of a waltz, but he only had a couple of points docked for that). Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox – points were given for how pretty the box was, and were taken away if it still had whiskers. Snape made everyone nervous as he breathed down their necks, watching them try to remember how to brew a Forgetfulness potion.

"You alright?" Ed asked Harry quietly as they walked down the hall to their History of Magic exam.

Harry nodded tiredly, though he looked like he was in pain.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

"Hermione," Ed said, glancing at Ron, "I think talking about those exams are going to make Ron barf all over us,"

Hermione looked at the boys, annoyed, but said nothing more on the subject.

They wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

Ed wondered how an oceanic creature adapted so well to the freshwater of the lake.

"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Harry was rubbing his forehead. Was that what had been hurting him earlier?

"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting, it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning. It mean's danger's coming…"

"Harry, I'm no expert on injuries caused by magic, but I've heard of old alchemy wounds that hurt long after they've healed. Maybe it's the same principal?" Ed offered.

Harry shook his head.

"No…"

Ron couldn't be bothered to get worked up; it was too hot.

"Harry, relax. Hermione and Ed are right; the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape's found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once; he's not going to try it again in a Hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Harry nodded, but still looked unsure. Suddenly, and without warning, he jumped to his feet.

"What's goin' on?" Ed muttered sleepily.

"Were are you going?" said Ron.

"I've just thought of something," said Harry, who had turned stark white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."


	16. Chapter 16

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry as the foursome scrambled up the grassy slope to Hagrid's hut, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just so happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you talking about?" said Ron, but Harry didn't answer him.

"Damn it, Harry, stop being cryptic!" Ed shouted at him.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said with a pleasant smile. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut him off.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ed whined. "I just want someone to be straightforward when they talk about stuff!"

Hagrid shot Ed a curious look, but ignored the blonde alchemist. He was quite used to his strange behavior by now. He turned back to Harry and answered the question.

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn't take his cloak off."

At the four stunned looks, he continued onwards.

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never was his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry kept prodding him for answers regarding the strange person. What did you talk about? Did you talk about the school? Did he seem interested in Fluffy? Ed finally understood what Harry was getting at. If this person knew about Fluffy – and how to get past him – then they could be in the school at this very moment. And now that Quirrell had submitted to Snape…

"I shouldn'ta told you that! Forget I said it! Hey, where're yeh goin'?"

The four Gryffindors raced back towards the school, and didn't utter a word until they returned to the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.

"We need to talk to Dumbledore, the Stone's under his protection," Ed spoke first.

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak. It must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him."

"Uh, Harry?" Ed said suddenly. "Do we even know where Dumbledore's office is?"

They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where the Headmaster lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him.

"Well, shit."

"We'll just have to-" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang out across the hall, echoing slightly.

"What are you four doing inside?"

It was Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said firmly. Ed applauded her bravery in his mind.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though she had never heard of anything more suspicious. "Why?"

The four of them shared a look.

"It's sort of secret," Harry said.

McGonagall's nostrils flared.

"The Headmaster left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, potter, he has many demands on his time – "

"Ah, screw it all to hell," Ed muttered to himself before interrupting McGonagall. "Professor, it's about the Philosopher's Stone."

Whatever she had been expecting, it most certainly was not that. The books she had been carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't bend down to retrieve them.

"How do you know-?" she spluttered.

"Professor, I think – we know – that Sn- someone is going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed them with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"The Headmaster will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you could have possibly found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But, Professor-"

"Potter, Elric, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't.

"What I'm learning," Ed grumbled, "Is that you can't trust adults with something important. They won't believe us, just 'cause we're kids." He kicked angrily at the stone floor.

"Not all adults," Hermione said feebly, but Ed fixed her with a stare, an she sighed and looked away.

"It's tonight," Harry said as soon as they were sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."

"But what can we-" Ron began, but was cut off by a gasp from Hermione.

The boys wheeled around to see Snape standing there.

"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.

They stared at him, and Ed offered a half-hearted, "Yo."

Snape gave him a distasteful look.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile. The skin on the back of Edward's neck broke out in goose bumps.

"We were-" Harry began, but it was clear that he had no idea of what he was going to say.

"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"

Harry flushed, and Ed grit his teeth. They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.

"Be warned, Potter, any more nighttime wanderings, and I will personally make sure that you are expelled. Good day to you."

"Bastard," Ed whispered as he left. He turned to his friends. "Guys, we need a plan."


	17. Chapter 17

Harry agreed wholeheartedly with his blonde friend. If the four of were going to be able to do  _anything_  to stop Snape from getting the Stone, they would have to figure out a plan.

"Right," Harry whispered to them, "here's what we've got to do. A couple of us have got to keep an eye on Snape, wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, Ed, you'd better do that."

"Why us?" the two Gryffindor's said in unison, puzzled.

"It's obvious," said Ron. "You two can pretend to be waiting for a professor, you know." He did a poor mimic of Hermione's voice, "Oh, Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong…"

"Oh, shut up," Hermione said, but she and Edward agreed to go and watch for Snape.

The two of them headed in the direction of the staff room, worry bubbling in Ed's stomach all the way. Hermione had a death grip on the sleeve of his robes; she was just as worried about this as he was. They waited outside the room for only ten minutes before Snape stepped out.

"And what are the two of you doing?" He asked them, eyes darting between them suspiciously.

Hermione looked absolutely petrified – more so than even when they had faced the troll – but said to Snape, "We're waiting for Professor Flitwick, I-I have a question to ask him about the exams…"

Snape stared at them for a long moment before a thin smile graced his features. Ed thought maybe he should stick to scowling; it suited him better.

"Wait here," Snape said. "I'll go and get him for you."

He disappeared back into the staff room, and Hermione began to panic.

"Oh, no," she muttered, more to herself than to her companion. "I don't know what to ask Professor Flitwick!"

Ed grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away from the door and towards the Gryffindor common room.

"C'mon," he called back to her.

They reached Gryffindor tower and stopped outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. After Ed gave the password, they entered into the common room, seeing Harry and Ron seated by the fire, looking downtrodden.

"At least Hermione's on Snape's tail," Harry was saying as they rushed up to them.

"I'm sorry, Harry!" Hermione wailed. "Snape came out and asked us what we were doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away, I don't know where Snape went."

Ed gave her an impressed look.

"You didn't even stop to breathe," he remarked, but was largely ignored by his friends. He shrugged. Well,  _he_  thought he was funny, anyway.

"Well, that's it, then, isn't it?" Harry said.

Ed looked at him. His friend was pale, and his eyes were glittering behind the lenses of his glasses.

"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"Harry, this is raising some serious questions on your sanity." Ed said at the same time Ron exclaimed, "You're mad!"

"You can't!" said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"

Harry glared at her.

"SO WHAT!" He shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

Ron, Ed, and Hermione sat in shocked silence for a moment.

"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.

"I'll use the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky that Ed remembered to go back for it."

"But will it cover all four of us?" asked Ron.

"All, all four of us?"

"Oh, come on, you don't think we'd let you go all by yourself, do you?" Ed smirked.

"Of course not," Hermione answered for him briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us?"

"You are pretty useless," Ed joked.

"I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful…"

"But if we get caught, you three will be expelled with me."

"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

"And I got full marks in History of Magic," Ed added. "Don't think many people ever do well in that class. Good thing I like to read history books."

* * *

They sat nervously in the common room after dinner, waiting for everyone to go to bed. No one bothered them – most of the Gryffindor's were still upset with Harry for losing points. Hermione was looking through her notes in hope of coming across something that might help them with the enchantments protecting the Stone. Ed had made sure to fill his pockets with extra chalk for drawing transmutation circles.

Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.

"Better get the cloak," Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs and returned a few minutes later, pocketing a flute that had been given to him by Hagrid on Christmas.

"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us. If Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own-"

"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching his toad.

Ed's stomach lurched. Neville wouldn't tell on them – would he?

"Nothing, Neville, nothing," Harry said quickly, stuffing the cloak behind his back.

Neville stared at their guilty faces.

Ed felt kind of sorry for the kid.

"You're going out again," he stated.

"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"

They were running short on time, Ed knew. With every passing moment they spent here, Snape grew closer to gaining the Stone.

"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

"Listen, Neville, something important is happening!" Ed told him.

Neville – surprisingly – was standing firm. They argued with him for several more minutes before Harry pleaded for Hermione to do something to end the conversation. She stepped forward, wand raised.

"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this.  _Petrificus Totalus_!"

Neville's body became straight and rigid. He swayed for a moment, before falling flat onto his face. Ed rushed over and turned him over. His mouth was jammed shut, rendering him unable to speak, but his eyes were still able to move, and were currently looking at the four of them in utter horror.

Hermione explained that she'd cast the Full Body-Bind on their classmate, apologizing once more to the boy.

"Sorry, Neville," Ed told him as they swung the cloak around them. "It's kind of a long story, and we'll tell you about it if we come back."

"Don't say that," Hermione hissed at him as they stepped through the portrait hole.

"What?"

" _If_. Don't say that."

Ed shrugged.

"I'm a realist, Hermione, I kind of always expect the worst to happen."


	18. Chapter 18

They passed by Mrs. Norris on their way to the third floor, and Ed was immensely glad that they were invisible to all those around them. Ron wanted to kick the creature, but Harry shook his head. They were on a mission, and could not afford any distractions.

They didn't come across anyone else until the foursome reached the staircase that would take them up to the third floor. Peeves the Poltergeist, messing around with the carpet so that people would trip over it. As they came closer to the floating manifestation, he suddenly called out, "Who's there? Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"

The four of them tensed up.

"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

_"Do something,"_  Ed hissed in Harry's ear. He hated dealing with the poltergeist.

Harry looked stumped for a moment, before his expression became one of calm.

"Peeves," Harry said in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."

Ed grinned. Harry might not exactly be book smart, but damn, was he quick on his feet.

The floating poltergeist nearly fell out of the air in his shock, but caught himself just in time and hovered only a foot above the stairs.

"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, Sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake, I didn't see you, of course I didn't, you're invisible, forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."

"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."

"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."

And he scooted off

"Brilliant, Harry!" Ron whispered to his friend.

Ed clapped the bespectacled boy on the back.

"Good job."

It only took seconds for them to arrive outside the third floor corridor, and the door already hung open.

"Snape's already got past that monster dog," Ed said.

Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all four of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Harry turned to the other three.

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said grimly. "You can take the cloak, I won't be needing it now."

"Don't be stupid," said Ron.

"We're coming," said Hermione.

"Otherwise, you're fucked," said Ed.

Harry pushed the door open.

As the door creaked in protest, low growls rumbled in their ears. All three of the dog's noses – and boy, was that a weird sight for Ed, who had never actually seen the great beast – sniffed madly in their direction, although it mercifully could not actually see them.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione asked the boys.

"Looks like a harp," Ron observed.

"Snape must've left it to keep it sleeping," Ed guessed, getting closer to the dog to observe it. "Doesn't look much different from a chimera," he mumbled under his breath.

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," surmised Harry. "Well, here goes…"

He took out the flute that had been given to him by Hagrid, and began to play – however clumsy it might sound. From even the first note that he played, the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly even stopped to breath. After a few moments – and after Ed had nearly passed out from holding his breath – the dog finally fell into a deep slumber.

"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as the friends slipped out from underneath the cloak. They crept past the dog to the trapdoor, feeling it's hot breath roll over them. Ed gagged a little. "I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Hermione?"

"Ladies first?" Ed offered with a smirk and a gesture towards the trapdoor.

"No, I don't want to go first!"

"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs, he bent down and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

"What can you see?" Hermione asked him anxiously, the sound of Harry's terrible flute-playing echoing slightly in the background.

"Nothing, just black. There's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

"I could make stairs if I knew how deep it went," Ed said. "But I don't think we have time for me to draw a transmutation circle, yeah?"

"Exactly," Ron said.

Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention, and pointed at himself."

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" asked Ron. "We don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione or Ed so that they can keep him asleep."

Harry handed the flute over to Hermione. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled, and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.

She was significantly better at playing it than Harry had been, in Edward's opinion.

Harry climbed over the dog and looked down through the trapdoor. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and Ed, and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"

"Right," the other two boys said together.

"See you in a minute, I hope…"

He let go. After a few tense moments, he called up to them, "It's okay! It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron followed straight away, no further convincing needed. After a brief hesitation, Ed looked to Hermione, who nodded and motioned with her elbow for him to jump, which he did. He fell down for what seemed to be a very long time (probably no more than thirty seconds in reality) and landed with a muffled thump onto something soft and slightly squishy feeling.

"Ergh," he muttered. "What the hell is this shit?"

"I just told Ron, I think it's some sort of plant thing to break the fall," Harry informed him.

"Huh." Ed glanced up to the light from whence they came. "Come on, Hermione!"

The music floating towards them from the distance stopped, followed by a loud bark from the dog. However, Hermione had already plunged into the hole, landing to the side of Harry and Ed.

"We must be miles under the school," she observed.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.

"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you three!"

Ed glanced down, then back to Hermione. He did a double take and his gaze returned to his feet, which were slowly being engulfed by the plant, which was wrapping and twisting itself around the others as well.

"What the hell?"

He tried to reach for the chalk he had stored in the pocket of his robes, but no luck. The plant – which he remembered was called Devil's Snare – had already wound tightly around him.

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. She told them about the plant, yelled at Ron for his ill-timed use of sarcasm, and tried to recall how to kill it.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare – what did Professor Sprout say? – it likes the dark and the damp."

" _Fire,"_  Ed choked out as the vines crept closer to his face.

"Light a fire!" Harry called to her.

"Yes, of course, but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

Ed shouted out obscenities and curses, barely audible due to the plant having wrapped itself around his mouth.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed, having been thinking along the same lines as Ed, "ARE YOU A WHITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, having calmed down quite a bit. She whipped out her wand, waved it, and with a muttered spell, sent a jet of the same fire she had used on Snape at the wriggling vines. It unraveled from their bodies, and the four of them were released.

"Lucky you paid attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry.

"And that you could actually talk," Ed said to her, wiping his face furiously with the back of his hand. "Ergh, I can still  _taste_ it."

"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry and Ed don't loose their heads in a crisis. 'There's no wood,' honestly."

Harry pointed down a stone passageway, and called for the others to follow him down it. The only sound they could make out, apart from their own footfalls, was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The way the passageway looked reminded Ed faintly of Gringotts bank. Hopefully, there would be no dragons in here….

"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered suddenly.

Ed paused and listened. It sounded like a soft rustling sound was coming from up ahead of them.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" Harry asked.

Ed shook his head.

"No, they don't really make sounds when they move, do they? Sounds more like..."

"Wings," Ron offered, and Ed nodded at him.

"Yeah. Wings."

Reaching the end of the passageway, they saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, the ceiling arching high above them. Small, bright birds flittered above them, all around the room. Harry ran quickly over to the other end of the room, where he found himself at a door. After a moment, the other three joined him.

"Guys, I don't think that these are birds," Ed remarked, head tipped back to look at the winged things.

"And I don't think that they're here just for decoration." Hermione pointed out.

"You're right, they're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys, look carefully. So that must mean…" he looked around the chamber while the other three continued to look upon the keys.

"There's a broom over there," Ed noticed. "You have to fly up and catch the one that will open the door."

Harry quickly discerned the key that they needed from the hundreds of others. It was silver, like the lock on the door, and one of its blue wings was bent, indicating that it had been caught before. He caught it easily – he wasn't the Gryffindor Seeker for nothing – and unlocked the door.

The four of them entered the next room.


	19. Chapter 19

The next chamber was so dark that Ed couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. As they stepped in, however, they found themselves bathed in a bright light, revealing an amazing sight.

Ed looked down at the floor beneath his feet, which was actually an enormous chessboard, and the four of them were standing behind the black chess pieces, taller than even Ron. Facing them across the board were the white pieces. Ed shivered, slightly unnerved by the faceless chessmen.

"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."

Ed could see that there was a door behind the white chessmen.

"I bet this is McGonagall's work," he observed.

"How do we play?" asked Hermione nervously, unconsciously shifting closer to Ron.

"I think," Ron said, "we're going to have to be chessmen."

"Geeze, so dramatic," Ed muttered as Ron made his way over to a black knight, reaching his hand out to touch the knight's horse.

As soon as his hand touched the stone, it sprang to life. The horse pawed at the ground, and the Knight turned his helmet-covered head to look down upon Ron.

"Do we, er, have to join you to get across?"

The black knight nodded and Ron turned back to his friends.

"This needs thinking about," he said. "I suppose we've go to take the place of four of the black pieces…"

Harry and Hermione stayed quiet, but Ed did not hold his tongue.

"Do we have to choose specific ones, or do you think it matters?" he asked his red haired friend. "I mean, I'm not a bad chess player, but I do use alchemy to my advantage…" He could swear that the knight was glaring at him beneath that helmet, even if he couldn't see it.

Harry looked at it nervously.

"Yeah, er, don't cheat. I don't think they'd take kindly to that." He said, glancing at the small blond alchemist.

Ed nodded, giving his friend a weak smile.

"Got it."

Ron looked to Harry and Hermione.

"Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you two are that good at chess-"

"We're not offended," Harry said quickly. "Just tell us what to do."

"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, Hermione, you stand next to him instead of that castle, and Ed, you can be the king. I don't want you messing anything up."

Ed pouted a bit, but it was probably for the better that he wouldn't be doing much. He'd be to tempted to use his alchemy, and didn't want to risk it.

"What about you?" Harry asked, and Ron puffed out his chest a little.

"I'm going to be," he declared, "a knight."

The chessmen, which had apparently been listening, moved, leaving behind a space for a knight, a bishop, a king, and a castle.

"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes, look…"

A white pawn had moved forward to squares. The game had begun.

The game played out almost silently, save for Ron's commanding the pieces on where to go. Ed tried not to think about how much his hands were shaking as he stood in the king's square.

The first real shock they experienced was when the white queen took down their other knight. She smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board. He lay facedown, incredibly still.

Ed wondered what would happen if one of them got dragged off. Hopefully their fates would be better than that of the knight.

The opposing team showed no mercy as the game went on, and the pile of limp black chess pieces grew larger and larger.

"We're nearly there," Ron muttered suddenly. "Let me think, let me think…"

The white queen turned her blank face toward him.

"Yes…" said Ron softly, "It's the only way. I've got to be taken."

Ed's eyes went wide, and he, Harry, and Hermione all screamed out, "NO!"

Ron turned to them, a determined look on his face.

"That's chess!" he snapped. "You've got to make some sacrifices!" I take one step forward and she'll take me. That leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But-"

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron-" Ed tried to interrupt him, but Ron was having none of it.

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

Ed and Harry exchanged a look with Hermione, and they found themselves in an unspoken agreement.

There was no alternative.

"Ready?" Ron called, his face paled but he was set in his decision. "Here I go, now don't hang around once you've won."

He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone arm, and he crashed to the floor – Hermione screamed but stayed on her square – the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He was unconscious.

Ed felt like he was going to throw up, but stayed strong. He could see Harry, who was shaking, take three steps to the left. The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear.

The three of them looked back at Ron.

"What if he's…" Hermione started, biting her lip.

"He'll be alright," said Harry. "What do you reckon's next?"

They walked through the door, and Hermione spoke as they walked.

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's.

They had reached another door.

"All right?" Harry whispered.

"Go on." Ed said, nodding towards the door.

Harry pushed it open, and a disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making the three of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, Ed saw a troll lying on the floor, even larger than the one they had fought up in the girl's bathroom. It was out cold.

"Glad we don't have to do anything with this guy," Ed said, his voice slightly muffled by his robes.

"Come on, I can't breathe." Harry whispered.

He pulled open the next door, the three of them hardly daring to look at what came next – but nothing here seemed to be too frightening. It was just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"

They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't like ordinary fire; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.

Ed carefully picked up a roll of paper lying next to the bottles and read it.

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_  
 _Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line._  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide  
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;  
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,  
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;  
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight. 

"Come look at this," Ed called to the other two, and he handed Hermione the paper. "It's a puzzle."

She let out a great sigh when she'd finished reading, and the boys saw that she was smiling, something neither of them felt like doing.

"Brilliant," she said. "This isn't magic - Ed's right, it's a puzzle – logic! A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."

"Sounds like our kind of thing, then," Ed said, a tiny smile forming on his face.

"But how do we know which to drink?" Harry asked them.

"Give us a minute," Ed told him.

Hermione read the paper several times, and Ed made pointed to a few key words hidden in the riddle. They walked up and down the line of bottles, Ed squinting and Hermione muttering to herself and pointing at them.

"Got it," Ed announced finally.

"The smallest bottle will get us through thee black fire and towards the Stone," Hermione informed Harry, who looked towards the tiny bottle.

"There's only enough for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one swallow."

The three of them looked at one another before Harry spoke again.

"Which one will get you two through the purple flames?"

Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.

"You drink that," said Harry. "No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him, really."

"Harry, you idiot, what if that Voldemort guy is with him?" Ed demanded furiously. "I'm not letting you get killed!"

"Well, I was lucky once, wasn't I?" Harry said, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."

Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.

"Hermione!" the dark haired boy said in shock.

"Harry, you're a great wizard, you know."

"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, a slight blush falling over his features.

"Me!' she scoffed. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things, friendship and bravery and, oh Harry, be careful!"

Ed cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Yeah, please don't die."

"You two drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"

"Do you doubt the greatest minds that ever lived?" Ed asked him, motioning between himself and Hermione. "We're positive."

They each took a swig from the round bottle, and they both shuddered.

"Ergh, I hate the cold," Ed moaned.

"It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously.

"No," Hermione confirmed, "but it's like ice."

"Quick, go before it wears off." He told them.

"Good luck," Hermione called to him as she and Ed walked closer to the purple flames.

"Take care!" Ed said.

"GO!"

The two of them turned and walked straight through the violet flames.

Ed expected them to feel warm, but instead he felt absolutely nothing as he passed through them. It was as if they weren't even there.

It didn't take long for he and Hermione to reach the room with the chessboard and find Ron, still lying down, though he still had color in his cheeks and was breathing evenly. Hermione gave a sigh of relief as Ed bent down and hoisted the taller boy onto his shoulder. He grunted under the excess weight, but was able to walk him down to the room with the keys.

"How are you with flying?" he asked Hermione.

She eyed the broomstick nervously.

"I'm… not bad," she said weakly, but her face was pale as she mounted it.

Ed had Ron practically on his lap to prevent him from falling off, and he swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

"Okay," he said. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

The two brooms weren't very fast, but they were certainly quicker than walking all the way back. They even got past Fluffy without too much trouble. Once they were out of the third floor corridor, Ed glanced at Ron, who was leaning heavily on him.

"Hospital wing," Hermione said as she took one look at the redhead.

Ed nodded.


	20. Chapter 20

"What on Earth?" Madam Pomfrey cried, startled, as Hermione and Ed burst into the hospital wing with Ron.

"No time to explain," Ed called back to her, dumping Ron onto a spare bed and running out into the hall with Hermione.

The two of them ran as fast as they possibly could (Ed was considerably faster than Hermione, due to the training he received with Izumi) to find Professor McGonagall.

"Do you know where her office is?" Ed asked Hermione, who nodded as she clutched her side.

"Y-yes," she gasped. "It's this way."

He followed her, and they burst into the Deputy Headmistress's office to find the older woman sitting behind her desk, grading papers.

"Elric, Granger," she began, a look of annoyance on her face, "I thought I told you-"

Ed's lurched forward, his hands gripping the edge of McGonagall's desk for support as Hermione leaned tiredly against the door. His eyes were wild and his hair was a mess.

"Professor, you need to contact the Headmaster  _now_." He said. "Harry's down in the trap door, and he's in a load of shit."

He had never seen McGonagall so shocked, not even when the four of them admitted to knowing about the Philosopher's Stone.

"What do you mean by this, Mr. Elric?" she asked, a dangerous tone to her voice.

Ed gulped a bit, but his resolve held firm.

"Harry's gone past all the protections, and is about to face it off with Snape," he said hurriedly. "And if we don't  _get Professor Dumbledore here now_ , he's going to be in so much trouble – just get Dumbledore here already!"

McGonagall stared at Ed for only a second or so before she whipped out her wand and conjured up a silvery cat.

"Albus, you are needed here, urgently." She said to the glowing animal, which took off through the open window behind her desk.

Ed and Hermione watched it go before returning their gazes to the Professor.

"Although I understand that Mr. Potter is in danger, I believe the two of you are mistaken in assuming that Severus is responsible for it." She said to them.

"But Professor," Hermione said, "He's down there! He got past the dog and the protections, and even knocked out that horrid troll!"

McGonagall shook her head, but she looked rather worried.

"Miss Granger, I spoke with Severus only minutes ago. He is not down there."

It wasn't Snape? Ed's head was reeling. If Snape wasn't the one trying to take the Stone for himself, then why had he been threatening Quirrell? It didn't make any se-

Quirrell.  _Of course._  Ed felt like an idiot for not seeing the signs earlier. It had been the Defense professor all along.

He smacked a hand to his forehead.

"Professor McGonagall, I know who it is," he said in a strained voice. "It's Quirrell."

* * *

The two Gryffindor students sat by Ron's bedside, waiting for him to wake up. Dumbledore had returned to the school, and had immediately gone to Harry's aid.

That had only been a few minutes ago, and McGonagall had sent Ed and Hermione away, not wanting them to put themselves in any more danger, considering that Ron had already been hurt. So they sat, waiting for their red-haired friend to wake up. Hermione was gripping Ed's arm rather tightly; she was terrified, he knew. And though he'd never tell anyone, Ed was pretty scared, too.

"Ugh," Ron's voice came from the bed. "Bloody Hell, my head."

Hermione let out a small sob and flung herself onto Ron.

"Ah, ouch, Hermione!" he cried, and she released him reluctantly.

"Sorry," she sniffed, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her school robes. "How are you feeling?"

"Like Hell," Ron said blandly. "But it looks like you got out okay. Where's Harry?" He looked around, as if he expected Harry to pop out of the nearest bedpan.

Ed and Hermione exchanged a nervous look, which Ron caught. He narrowed his blue eyes at them.

"What?" he said in an accusing tone.

Hermione bit her lip, and Ed closed his eyes briefly before opening them again and fixing Ron with a stare.

"He's still down there, the moron. Only one person could get to the final room, and he made Hermione and me leave because he's an idiot who thinks he has to save the world." Ed stated calmly, even though he was anything but calm. "When we got up here after grabbing you, we got McGonagall to send for Dumbledore. He went to get Harry. I think you're all caught up now."

Ron rubbed his hand across his face.

"Bloody idiot," he muttered. "Gonna get himself killed."

Harry was brought up shortly after that conversation. He was unconscious, and covered in blood. Ed winced at the sight of him.

"Did you stop Quirrell?" He asked Dumbledore after Harry had been tucked into bed.

Ron had been given the all clear from Pomfrey, so Hermione was helping him back to the common room. Ed had lingered behind to check on his friend.

Dumbledore nodded gravely.

"Harry was wounded and almost unconscious by the time I was able to arrive," he said. "He was also in possession of the Philosopher's Stone. Quirrell, from what I gather, attempted to take it from him, but was unable to even lay a hand on him." He looked to the prone form of Harry, lying asleep in the bed.

Ed was puzzled. What did Dumbledore mean Quirrell couldn't touch Harry?

"Sir?" he ventured. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Dumbledore turned his gaze to the small boy.

"My dear Mr. Elric, do you know the details of how our Harry survived Voldemort's attack on him that night?"

He had no idea what this had to do with Quirrell, but Dumbledore probably was going to tell him, anyway, so Ed shook his head.

"I thought no one knew?"

"Indeed. Even I do not know the specifics of the event, but I do know more than most." He smiled softly. "Harry's mother sacrificed herself to protect her son, and, in doing so, caused a protection spell to take place. As long as he spends a fraction of his year with blood relatives of his mother, no harm shall come to him through Voldemort."

Ed's brow furrowed in thought.

"But… how does that explain Quirrell."

Dumbledore seemed to be looking right through him as he spoke.

"Quirrell was using himself as a host for Voldemort. Did you never wonder what was under that turban of his?" At Ed's shake of his head, Dumbledore continued onward. "Voldemort was on the back of his head. Thus, because of his presence, Quirrell could not touch Harry and crumbled to dust when he did. He destroyed himself."

"Oh," Ed said, once again staring at his friend. He looked to the Headmaster and gave a weak smile. "I think I'm going to find Hermione and Ron. They'll want to know what happened."

Dumbledore gave a bow of his head.

"I will have Madam Pomfrey alert you three when Harry awakes." He said, and then Ed left the hospital wing to find the others.


	21. Chapter 21

It was three days before Harry woke up.

Ed, Ron, and Hermione had been checking up on him, visiting the hospital wing nearly every chance they got. Madam Pomfrey said that she would let them know when he was awake, but… well Ed still felt the need to see Harry for himself. Harry's bedside table had an assortment of candy and trinkets on it, left there by his friends and fellow Gryffindor's. It was the most candy Ed had ever seen in one place.

About a day before Harry woke up, Ed searched the school for Dumbledore. As luck would have it, he was able to catch up to him after breakfast in the Great Hall.

"Sir!" Ed said loudly, running after the bearded professor.

Dumbledore turned around and stared at Edward curiously.

"Ah, Mr. Elric," he said, "I was wondering when you would come to me."

"Sir, you said that Quirrell didn't end up with the Stone, right?" the blond asked. "The Philosopher's Stone is a really important alchemy-"

Dumbledore was smiling, but he was shaking his head as well.

"Mr. Elric, I know what you are asking." He said. "But, I cannot give the Stone to you. It holds too much power, and it would be catastrophic if it fell into the wrong hands. Alas, even if you could contain that power, the Stone has been destroyed."

"Destroyed!"

The cry was out of his mouth before he thought better of it, and so Ed stood, his face flushed red.

"I mean, I understand that it's dangerous and all, but Philosopher's Stone's are really, really rare!"

"As they should be. If anyone had access to them, imagine what disarray the world would be in." The old Headmaster said calmly. "I could not allow that Stone to stay here, as it was still in danger, and Gringotts is not safe enough. There was no other way."

Ed looked down. Even though he new why Dumbledore had destroyed the Stone, he still felt a tinge resentful towards him for it. The stone could have aided him and Alphonse in trying to bring back their mother.

"And Mr. Elric?"

His head shot up.

"Yeah?"

"Do be careful this summer, won't you?" Dumbledore had a knowing look in his eye.

Ed hesitated, wondering if the elderly Headmaster knew of his and Al's plans to transmute their mother back to life.

Probably not.

"Okay."

"Harry!"

Ed wondered if he would have to physically restrain Hermione so that she wouldn't squeeze the life out of Harry with a hug. Luckily, he did not have to resort to that.

"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to… Dumbledore was so worried…" Hermione said, very fast.

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron.

"What really happened?" Ed asked his friend, helping himself to a chocolate frog. Harry didn't seem to mind, much.

"I went in, expecting to see Snape, y'know, but it was Quirrell there instead. He's the one who was after the Stone, and he's the one who jinxed my broom, as well."

Hermione looked distressed at the mere mention of the broom incident.

"Anyways, I was able to get the Stone out of the mirror – don't ask me how, I don't know – and Quirrell took off his turban and showed me that Voldemort – Hermione, my  _head_  – was on the back of his head. He couldn't touch me." Harry looked off into the distance. "Professor Dumbledore said it's because my mother sacrificed herself for me. And Dumbledore's destroyed the Stone, he said he talked to Flamel and they both agreed on it. Oh," he added as an afterthought, "and he's the one who sent me my father's cloak."

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that – what was it – 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure'."

"Flamel's had too long of a life, anyway," Ed said. "Bastard's been hording that stuff, living longer than he should…" he trailed off into grumpy mutters.

"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking pleased with Dumbledore's eccentricity.

"So what happened to you three?" Harry asked them.

"Hermione and I got back alright," said Edward. "We dumped Ron here and went straight to McGonagall – who was  _pissed_ , by the way- and she made a glowey-animal thing and sent it to Dumbledore."

"After Professor Dumbledore went after you, McGonagall made us come here, she didn't want us getting into anymore trouble, I suppose." Hermione added. "You were brought up not too long after that."

"Dumbledore just said 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' the moment he saw us and hurtled off to the third floor." Ed finished.

"D'you think me meant you to do it?" asked Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did, I meant to say that's terrible, you could have been killed."

"I don't think that Dumbledore would have let that happen if he knew," Ed reasoned with her.

"No, he wouldn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."

"Still," Hermione fumed under her breath.

Ed patted her on the shoulder consolingly.

"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron in a proud sort of voice. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course – you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you – but the food'll be good."

As soon as the words left Ron's mouth, Madam Pomfrey strolled over.

"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT!" she said firmly.

"Later, Harry," Ed called as they left.


	22. Chapter 22

"People just can't seem to get it through their thick heads that you don't want to be stared at," Ed muttered to Harry as he sat down at the end-of-year feast in the Great Hall.

"Well," Harry said, at a loss for words. "Yeah."

"Stupid-ass Slytherin's won the House Cup," Ed informed him. "Those bastards."

It was then that Dumbledore arrived, and the babble that filled the Hall died away as the students looked towards the Headmaster expectantly.

"Another year gone!" the old man said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been. Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were… you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts...

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, five hundred and twenty- two."

Naturally, the Slytherin table made an enormous fuss about their being in the lead and therefor winning the House Cup. Ed glared across the Hall at Draco Malfoy, who was banging his goblet on the table in celebration.

What a little bastard.

"Yes, yes," said Dumbledore with a smile. "Well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room hadn't been this quiet that Ed could ever recall. The Slytherin's smiles wilted a little.

"Ahem," Dumbledore began to speak once more. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see, yes… First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley…"

Ron's face flushed at the mention of his name. Ed jabbed him in the ribs with the end of his spoon.

"Ooh, Dumbles likes you!" he grinned.

"…for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The cheers that came from the Gryffindor table were so loud that Ed could have sworn the stars on the bewitched ceiling shivered. He overheard Percy bragging about his youngest brother to his fellow prefects.

It went silent once more as Dumbledore spoke again.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione had buried her face into her arms, and Ed absently rubbed her back. She was crying, more than likely, due to being overwhelmed by it all. Their fellow Gryffindor's looked extremely pleased, and who wouldn't be? They had just gone up one hundred points.

"Third, to Mr. Edward Elric, for understanding the impossible and aiding his friends, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

More excited yelling. Ed couldn't help but feel pleased.

"Fourth, to Mr. Harry Potter..."

As soon as the words were said, the room was so quiet that Ed could hear a pin drop from across the room. "For pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

_Five hundred and twenty two points_. Ed's mouth dropped. They were tied with Slytherin, with exactly the same amount of points. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. If they had only one more point, just one, they would have won the house cup.

Dumbledore raised his hands, and the exited yelling that had arisen died down.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore with a knowing smile. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

The silence broke like a dam. Roaring cheers were all that Ed could hear, and he himself screamed at the top of his lungs. They had won.  _They had won_!

* * *

It took a while for all of the students to get off the platform. The wizard guarding the barrier wasn't letting anyone through in groups larger than two or three so that they wouldn't attract the attention of the Muggles.

"I still can't believe we weren't expelled," Ed said as he and the others waited to go through the barrier.

"I'm just surprised that we all managed to pass our exams, even Harry and Ron!" Hermione said with a small laugh.

Ed rolled his eyes.

"Hermione, we all knew that you were going to pass. You're the smartest girl in our year."

"Even smarter than you?"

Ed narrowed his eyes playfully.

"Hey now, I said the smartest  _girl_."

"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron. "All of you. I'll send out an owl."

"Thanks," said Harry. "I'll need something to look forward to."

People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Ed heard a couple of kids call out:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

Ed snorted, and Ron grinned at Harry.

"Still famous," he said.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.

They passed through the gateway and into King's Cross Station. Ed closed his eyes briefly. Despite his initial reluctance to join the wizarding world, he sure was going to miss it this summer.

By next September, hopefully he and Al would be talking about it with their mother.

"There he is, Mum, there he is, look!"

The call was coming from a small red-haired girl, who Ed remembered was Ron's younger sister, Ginny. She was not pointing at Ron.

"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mum, I can see-"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."

Ron's mother smiled down at them, which left Ed longing to see his own mom's smile again.

"Busy year?" she asked the four of them.

"Very," said Harry.

"Thank you for the Christmas gifts, Mrs. Weasley," Ed said graciously. "I wasn't expecting to actually get anything, seeing as my country doesn't really celebrate the holiday."

She waved him off.

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

"Ready, are you?"

A giant, purple-faced walrus of a man – who looked absolutely furious – came up to him. Behind him were an equally fat boy and a horse-like woman.

Ed guessed that these were the people Harry had to live with. Poor kid.

"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly.

"In a manner of speaking," said the Walrus (Ed knew he had a name, he just didn't give a fuck). "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away, and Ed made faces behind his retreating backside.

"Hope you have a good summer, then." Harry said to his friends.

Ed patted his arm.

"I would say the same to you, but I don't think that's possible with those assholes around." He said. "Try not to accidentally blow them up. Not that I would be opposed to that."

Harry chuckled.

"Hope you have, er, a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Harry's uncle, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant (Ed didn't know why she was so surprised, she had spent the school year with Malfoy, after all).

"Oh," said Harry with a grin spreading over his face, "I will. They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer."

He waved to them and hurried after his relatives. Ed turned to Hermione and Ron.

"I'll write you," he said, "but I don't actually have an owl."

Ron smiled.

"You can use Errol to deliver whenever he gives you mine," he said. "He's old, so it might take a while, but we'll be able to stay in touch that way."

"Awesome." Ed said.

"Brother!"

Ed spun around, a grin stretching across his face.

"Al!" he shouted, and raced over to his younger brother, engulfing him in a short – no pun intended – hug.

"Al, these are a couple of my friends, Hermione and Ron." They waved, Ron smiling awkwardly. "You just missed Harry, his stupid fat-ass uncle dragged him off."

"Oh," said Al. "Was that the man who looked like a walrus? Winry and I saw him as we came in, and Granny told us not to stare at people."

"Winry's here, too?"

Alphonse nodded.

"Uh huh."

Ed turned to his friends.

"I'll see you next year, guys!"

He gave them both quick hugs, and ran with his brother to Winry and Pinako. He couldn't wait to get started on the project

* * *

_Dear Ed,_ the letter began,  
 _I've written to Harry, but he hasn't answered any of my letters. Hermione said the same things been happening with her. Have you gotten anything from him? Let me know._  
By the way, the twins said that you should come over this summer and teach them alchemy; they want to learn it so that they can use it in their pranks. Let me know if you'll be able to visit before summers over, and I'll tell mum.  
Ron

Ed smiled at the letter. He pulled out a piece of clean notebook paper- one that didn't have calculations for the transmutation on it – and began his reply.

* * *

_Dear Ron,_  
I've only written Harry once this summer, and Hermione not at all. I've been busy with a project I'm working on with my brother. If I succeed, I could change the world. No, I haven't gotten anything from Harry, but I haven't gotten anything from Hermione yet, so it's probably no big deal. Don't worry too much; I'm sure he's just busy.  
Ed

* * *

Harry was pretty mad with the little House Elf. He had no right, keeping his letters from him like that. He had probably kept his own letters from reaching their destinations, as well. Disgruntled, he settled himself at his desk and opened a letter from Ed; it was the apparently the first letter that Ed had sent him.

_Dear Harry,_  
Ron and Hermione are pretty worried about you. They think that you've not been getting the letters or something, are your aunt and uncle keeping them from you?  
Alphonse (my little brother) and I are working on an alchemy project in our basement. It could be pretty dangerous if we screw up, so I guess we'll just have to do everything perfectly, huh? I won't be able to spend the rest of the summer at Ron's this year, I ended up being busier than I expected. I guess I'll have to wait till September first to see you then, huh?  
Ed

Harry was curious as to what 'project' Ed was referring to, and he opened the next letter.

_Dear Harry,  
Time just flies, doesn't it? There's only like three weeks left of the summer holiday, and I'm so close to finishing my _ _transmu_ _project. I can't tell you what it is until it's done, sorry._  
You still haven't written. I hope your letters are just getting lost, or something.  
Ed

There was only one more from his alchemist friend, and, on a whim, Harry opened it. The first thing he noticed was that Ed's handwriting was messier than usual, as if he were writing with his left instead of his right. Harry's brow furrowed. That was certainly odd.

The second thing he noticed was that there was a small smudge of dried blood on the bottom left corner of the paper.

_Harry,_  
I'm sorry. I'm not coming back to Hogwarts. I can't go back to school. I messed up so bad this time, and it's my fault. My project, my transmutation, failed and I'm so sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I can't come back.  
I'll write you some other time. God, I hope you get this.  
Ed

This did not bode well.


End file.
